It’s the pecan brittle that really makes these blondies. I like to break it into quite big chunks for the top while the rest, stirred through the batter, makes the blondies chewy and very moreish!

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°c (180°c fan). Grease a 25cm square baking tray and line with baking parchment.
• For the pecan brittle, add the 4 tablespoons water and the sugar into a cold pan. shake the pan, then turn the heat on. carefully swirl the pan then increase the heat and do not stir. Boil until a light caramel colour then take off the heat.
• In a bowl, mix the pecan nuts with the vanilla extract and pinch of salt. tip the pecan nuts into the caramel and swirl to coat before quickly pouring onto a sheet of baking parchment. Allow to cool completely, then roughly chop into pieces.
• For the blondies, in a large bowl whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract together until pale and the whisk leaves lines when you lift it.
• Melt 50g of the chocolate chips with the butter in a small bowl set over a pan of boiling water, making sure the base of the bowl isn’t touching the water. Fold the melted chocolate mixture into the whisked egg mixture.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together, then stir through the whisked egg mixture, along with the remaining chocolate chips and two-thirds of the chopped pecan brittle. Pour the batter into the lined baking tray and top with the remaining brittle and pinch of sea salt. Bake for 25 minutes until golden, then set aside to cool.
• When ready to serve, remove the blondie from the tray and cut into 12 squares. Enjoy either warm with a scoop of ice cream or, if you can resist eating them straight away, they can be frozen.

Tip:  The brittle can be made ahead of time. John does it slightly differently on the show! His tip is to put 1 tablespoon water in a bowl with the sugar to make wet sand. Then add that to the cold pan and turn the heat on.

Extracted from John and Lisa’s Kitchen (Quadrille)