(Gruesome Green) Pandan Blondies

I made these green Pandan Blondies after picking up some pandan flavouring in my local Chinese supermarket.

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Pandan is a plant grown in South Asia and the leaves are used in a variety of culinary ways. One of which is in pandan flavouring. It is commonly sold in small bottles with green food colouring mixed in with it.

The flavor of pandan is like a buttery vanilla, if you can imagine that, with wafts of mild coconut in there too. It really is a gorgeous smell and I thought using the flavouring in blondies would be a great way to showcase the taste.
As I was making them, I suddenly realised what with Halloween coming up, the green hue of these would make them a perfect home baked treat for Trick or Treaters.

I made a basic blondie batter and stirred in a tablespoon of the pandan flavouring. The green grew stronger and stronger as I mixed it in to the batter. Almost like the baking equivalent of the Hulk I suppose.
I also added chips to these for added flavor. I don’t specify which sort of chips, as any would work really well in these. I had some peanut butter chips and white and milk swirled chocolate chips, so chucked these in. But you could use butterscotch, plain chocolate, even some chopped nuts would be a great addition.

They baked for about 25 minutes. Obviously the outside of the baked blondies (I should really call them greenies, which sounds not quite so appetising) take a brownish tinge from being baked, but when cut into squares, the dark emerald tones are revealed.

I dusted some icing sugar over the top of these beauties, but for added spooky flair, you could add a cobweb design in chocolate for example or whatever you fancy really.
You can purchase pandan in Asian supermarkets or online.
Here’s how I made them:
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(Gruesome Green) Pandan Blondiesby S Vettese October-12-2017Blondies flavoured with pandanIngredients

• 115 grams melted unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 225 grams dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pandan flavouring
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 100 grams baking chips or chopped nuts
• To garnish icing sugar

InstructionsPreheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line a 9”x9” baking tin with greaseproof paper.In a large bowl stir together the melted butter, vegetable oil and dark brown sugar until smooth.Add the egg and pandan and beat this in until fully combined.Sift over the baking powder, bicarb, salt and flour and stir this into the mixture until incorporated.Stir in the chips (or nuts) until evenly distributed and then transfer the batter to the prepared tin.Smooth over with a palette knife and pop in the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.Cut into 16 squares and dust some icing sugar over the top.These taste great when warm but keep for about a week, when cooled, in an airtight container.DetailsPrep time: 10 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 35 mins Yield: 16 blondies