Magnolia Bakery's Peanut Butter Heath Bar Blondie Recipe
September 20, 2008
Yes I am writing about something other than the cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery in NYC.
It took me a long time to get my butt over to Magnolia Bakery. I spent four years in the city for college, never having gone there and finally made my first visit in the heat of the SNL Lazy Sunday phenomenon. My friends and I stood on a way too long line in the cold and bought two dozen cupcakes hoping that they lived up to all the hype.
They didn’t - at least that time around. Maybe they were having an off day, maybe the hype just got to us, but we weren’t impressed. I was pretty ready to write Magnolia off forever after all of the time spent waiting on line. But every time I have a friend in town that’s where we end up going, so I’ve been there at least a few times since. I was resistant to them, and still think they have off days here and there, but overall I’ve come to accept that they make pretty tasty cupcakes… that have all the bomb frostings (sorry, couldn’t help myself). Their chocolate frosting in particular is pretty awesome.
I got the blondie because it’s hard for me to pass up any chocolate peanut butter treat, but I didn’t expect it to touch the legacy of Magnolia’s famous cupcakes. When opening our box of goodies, I went for the cupcake first and didn’t even get around to tasting the blondie until after it had sat in the box for a day, so my expectations sunk a little lower than they were to begin with.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised - it was great! The base was buttery, peanut buttery and had that perfect blondie texture. It was a great combination of flavors and textures between the peanut butter, peanuts, a nice bit of chocolate (but nothing too overwhelming) and the occasional crunch of toffee bits from the Heath Bar. I really enjoyed it and had a hard time leaving half of it so that Taste Tester could try it. His reaction was the same, with a “Whoa” half a second after tasting it.
Try it for yourself at Magnolia Bakery in NYC or make your own with their recipe. I’m not sure if this is the original recipe or a copycat, but I won’t be able to tell you that until I give it a whirl.
UPDATE: We tried this bar for the first time last week and as I said didn’t get around to tasting it until it sat in the box for a day. I thought it was really good at the time, but last night we went back to Magnolia and ate one fresh. Wow! It was so soft and perfect. You’ll have to put your inner cupcake freak on hold the next time you visit Magnolia and get one of these instead - it’s awesome!