Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Blondies Topped with Sea Salt

 By: The Food Hunter

A Good Bake, by Melissa Weller is my new favorite cookbook. I am loving everything I've tried so far. These bars were inspired by one of her Milk Chocolate Raspberry Blondies. I halved the original recipe, used chopped dark chocolate instead of milk and added slightly less sugar.  The results were out of this world. 

Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Blondies Topped with Sea Salt
(inspired by Melissa Weller)

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, (such as Maldon), for sprinkling

Arrange the oven racks so one is in the center position. Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Prepare a 9- x 9-inch baking pan with butter.

Whisk the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl and set aside.
Chop the chocolate into small pieces.

Combine the brown sugar and egg in a medium bowl and whisk until the mixture is smooth and lightened in color. Gradually add the butter, stirring with the whisk. Use the whisk to stir in the vanilla. 

Add the flour mixture and fold it in with a rubber spatula until almost no flour is visible. Add the chocolate and fold it in until the chocolate is evenly distributed and no flour is visible.

Using a rubber spatula, transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Making sure it is smooth to the corners of the pan. Drop the jam in teaspoon-size drops, distributing it over the surface of the batter. Draw a small paring knife back and forth through the batter, running it through the jam across the length of the pan and then back across the sides. Sprinkle the salt, if you are using it, over the top.

Place the blondies on the center rack of the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, until the batter has puffed up, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through the baking time. Remove the pan from the oven and put it on a cooling rack; let the blondies cool to room temperature in the pan.