Foodie Fridays: Swedish Blondies

The original recipe calls for sliced almonds, but the almonds
shown in this accompanying photo are slivered (I used sliced).

The moment I saw this recipe for Swedish Brownies, I knew I would love them (I changed the name because I call any bar cookie that is not chocolate a blondie).  Buttery and tender, with just the right amount of sweetness and lots of almond flavor, these bars are irresistible.  I halved the recipe to prevent myself from overindulging too much, but for larger families just double the ingredients and use a 13x9-inch baking pan.  And here's a useful tip -- whenever you use a whole stick of butter for baking, save the butter wrapper and use it to grease the pan.  These blondies are so good I may just have to make them for the Fourth of July, despite the Scandinavian name!

Swedish Blondies

1/2 C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. almond extract
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 C. sliced almonds

Cream the butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggs and almond extract.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until blended (do not overmix).  Spread the batter into a greased 8-inch square pan.  Sprinkle the almonds evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Cut into squares.  Makes 16 bars.

Note: You can use a mixer as suggested in the original recipe, but when I bake I prefer to do things by hand whenever possible (hey, it helps burn off some calories to make room for the ones I am about to consume, right?).