Hot Blondies Bakery: The Classics

Those who blog write blogs (duh). They also read blogs. Lots of blogs. For inspiration, community connection, and just plain for fun. As a blogger, I, too, read blogs. Including Lauren’s blog, which is how I discovered that she was lucky enough to be selected as a reviewer for Hot Blondies Bakery in New York City. Now, this is a difficult task, as you can see from her post reviewing these bars. But I figured I was up for it, too, and contacted Laura and Lorin, the brains and brawn behind these creations.

As you can see, they agreed that I had what it takes to check out their signature creations: four blondies and four brunettes (brownies). Before I even saw any of those beauties, I was truly impressed by their packaging job, which can be described as nothing but sexy.

I mean really. Leopard print tissue paper? Come hither, baked goods. I’m in love already.

Not one to be won over by packaging alone, I quickly dug into the box to see what awaited me. First up: the classic blondie, which features a bondie base and chocolate chunks.

The bar gives off a pleasing caramel aroma, and features very small chocolate chunks that are well-distributed. The texture is a bit dry on the outside, but pleasingly doughy on the inside. For those who enjoy raw cookie dough, the inside of this bar is like a gold mine. The bar is quite sweet, and it seems that just a pinch more salt would temper that a bit, but the chocolate does offset the sugary character just a bit. Though I’d enjoy a more consistent texture throughout, the bar was enjoyable and I was quite impressed with the even distribution of the chocolate in the bar.

Next, it was time to dive into something I’m an expert on: a brownie. We all know how I feel about brownies. Seriously, my copy of Nick Malgieri’s Chocolate opens right to the Supernatural Brownie recipe because I’ve made it so many times. With that expertise, the classic brunette was going to have to work hard to impress me.

This classic brunette captured by attention immediately with an intense cocoa aroma, and only got better when I bit into it: dense, chewy, and gooey. Certainly trending towards the fudgy type of brownie, which is my personal preference – come on, if you want a cakey brownie, just go eat, well, cake. But don’t eat this brownie. I’ll do that instead.

Aside from the impressive texture, the classic brunette is quite sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and this allows an intense chocolate flavor to linger through every bite. This intense chocolate flavor is enhanced by small bits of semi sweet chocolate that melt nicely if you heat up a bit of this bar (do it). This bar is spot on: perfect texture and mouthfeel with a nice blend of intense chocolate and a sweet cookie.

And that’s coming from a brownie critic. Honestly.

Given that honest assessment, if these nicely-crafted bar cookies intrigue you, go on over to Hot Blondies Bakery and order some yourself - use discount code HBBdistrict to save some dough.

Which do you prefer: blondies or brunettes? I’m talking about bar cookies, obviously.