Fantabulous Food! Substituting Blondie Recipe

This all started many months ago when I had promised to make my butterscotch cream cheese swirl brownies. I got out everything to make them only to find out that I was out of butterscotch chips and it was about 11pm. I didn't want to run to the store, so I looked through my 'chips' collection to use a different kind. I ended up making the exact same recipe just with peanut butter chocolate chips instead - and they were delicious :)

Since then, I am always brainstorming about what other chips would taste good and I have wanted to try white chocolate chips with nutella swirl for a while. Finally, I had the time and the supplies to make it happen. I decided to use it as an opportunity to show you how to substitute a recipe.

The glory of this recipe is that the flavor is completely determined by your chips you use for the base. If you've never checked, you should swing by the baking aisle next time you're in the store to see just how many different types of chips there are. You can even get fancy kinds from specialty stores, etc. So this is my cream cheese swirl brownie recipe with white chocolate and nutella.

White Chocolate Nutella Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

For Cream Cheese:

• 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 or 4 tbsp nutella

For Brownies:

• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Cover a 12x18" cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. For Cream Cheese: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg + beat. Add flour + beat.

Add nutella one tbsp at a time and mix well after each addition. Taste mix and add more until it is to your liking - I used about 3.5 tbsp in all. Mix until well blended.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt white chocolate chips and unsalted butter until smooth. Stir until well combined - it will look kind of mealy.

Remove from heat and add brown sugar. Mix well and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

4. Transfer to larger bowl to mix in. Beat eggs into white chocolate mixture one at a time until well combined each time. Add vanilla and mix well.

5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk to combine.

6. Add dry mixture to wet mixture a little at a time so it doesn't make a mess. Mix well with a mixer.

7. Pour white chocolate batter out onto prepared baking sheet. Spread batter out evenly. Take spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture and drop them onto the white chocolate mixture. I like to put them in the corners and then catty-corner to each other. You want to still be able to see the white chocolate mixture. Then use a butter knife starting in one spit and swirl the mixtures. Do not lift your knife out until the swirl is to you liking. Be sure to keep the knife straight up to achieve the prettiest swirl possible.

8. Bake at 350º F for 25 to 30 minutes. White batter will be slightly golden and a knife inserted in the middle should come out with moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

MMMmmmm ... They smelled delicious the whole time they were baking, and I have to say they tasted pretty good too :) So, don't be afraid to try different flavors with a tried and true recipe. Occasionally it won't come out quite like you hoped, but it's all a trial and error process. You may fail, but that's what makes success so great :)

I'd say this substitution was a success :)