Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

I love my Martha Stewart Cookie Cookbook! (My good friend Kristen gave it to me for my birthday...best birthday present ever! PS - she does GREAT photography work!) When I got the cookbook, I immediately bookmarked several recipes that I knew I wanted to make first. Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies happened to be one of those recipes, but it didn't really make sense to make them in June! (that is when my birthday falls) So when the holidays started creeping up on us, I decided I had better find a reason to make these delicious looking blondies!

Sure enough I had the perfect reason...I was invited to a special Christmas party over the weekend and brought these blondies (along with another awesome treat I am going to post soon). They were a perfect treat for a Holiday party. I haven't made a Martha Stewart recipe I didn't like and these blondies were again a HUGE Martha success! God Bless Martha Stewart!! ;o)
These blondies had such a great flavor. The white chocolate paired so well with the gingerbread. I couldn't believe how moist these blondies were. And they also seemed to taste better as a couple days passed. If you have a Holiday party to go to this season, I highly suggest making these! They were easy to make and extremely delicious! (I pretty much had to give them all away...including sending a bunch with the hubs to school, so I didn't eat them all myself...I probably would have!) Oh and if you do make these, I found that a little zap in the microwave for a couple seconds (just enough to warm them up) made them even more delicious!

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

(from Martha Stewart Cookies)

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/2 sticks (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
10 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and coat parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter and brown and granulated sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until edges are golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares or desired shape. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week.