Blondies

TDN's brother - and two of his friends - came to town for a visit last month and I was excited to meet him for the first time.  We were going to spend some time in San Francisco, and then the guys were heading to Tahoe for a ski week.  Since my surgery was happening that week, of course, I couldn't spend the week riding with them.  I could, however, fulfill the duty of the mom in me  and send them off with some treats.  I made a batch of my lemon drop cookies and decided they needed a little variety - and a little chocolate! - so I also made these delicious blondies.  Of course, I had to explain what blondies are to everyone who asked - cakey, non-brownie bars with a little chocolatey goodness.  Tall Dark and Nerdy might have been skeptical at first, but he was won over in just one bite, and with just four ingredients, it's one I don't mind making for him regularly :)

Ingredients:

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, eggs, and melted butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.  Scrape down the sides as needed, and mix until ingredients are moistened.  Add the chocolate chips and blend on low another 30 seconds, just to incorporate.

Scrape thick batter into an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan.  Press the batter out evenly over the bottom of the pan with fingers or a fork so it reaches all the sides.  Place the pan in the oven on the center rack.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.  Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Adapted from Cake Mix Doctor