Blondies with Berry Cream Cheese Swirl and Waffle Cone Crust

While walking down the baking aisle of the Aldi grocery store, I impulsively grabbed a box of waffle cones. (Side note: the best way to shop; grab stuff and figure out what to make with it later) Something about the malty flavor of the cones was giving me cheesecake vibes. Other Aldi finds to grab include dark chocolate baking chunks and their boxed brownie mix! It’s such a good mix to have on hand and you can add the chunks or fluff it up with whatever you have in your pantry.

I decided to experiment with another fave pastime, layering blondies with different crusts and flavor combos. This one ended with a win! I hope you give it a shot. These bars are perfect for a pot luck type gathering.

Crust ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ground waffle cone crumbs (150g) (sub equal amount of graham cracker crumbs or combo of both)

1.5 TBS sugar

4 TBS unsalted butter, melted

1.5 TBS white chocolate powdered jello mix (or sub equal amount sugar)

1/4 tsp cinnamon

A good tsp of kosher or pink Himalayan salt

Cream cheese filling:

4 ounces (half of package) cream cheese- room temp

2 TBS sugar

1 large egg yolk- room temp

1 TBS flour

1 oz. Freeze dried mixed berries (I like this one but any works)

Blondie:

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks butter- room temp

3/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar (or sub all light or all dark)

2 tsp. Malted milk powder (optional, but works well with the waffle cones)

1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs-room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

6 ounces chopped white chocolate bar (such as Lindt)

Prepare the crust:

In a food processor, grind up the waffle cones to form a sandy texture. This is just a unique flavor that is fun to play with. If you only have graham crackers on hand, that will taste delicious here too!

Preheat oven to 325F, grease a 9x13 baking dish and line with parchment paper. Whisk together all crust ingredients in a large bowl, except for butter.  Add melted butter, slightly cooled, and stir until clumps are forming. Press the mixture into the baking dish in an even layer, using your fingers or a spatula, and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, while preparing the batter.

In a mini food processor or coffee grinder, pulse the freeze dried berries into a fine powder. Push through a fine mesh sieve to remove any seeds. Some seeds are ok. Set aside.

Prepare cream cheese filling:

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat cream cheese and sugar with the paddle until smooth. Add egg yolk and flour and mix well. Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is smooth and combined. Sprinkle on the freeze dried fruit powder, fold in until uniform in color. Set aside.

Prepare blondie batter:

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt and whisk. In another clean mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth, using the paddle attachment on the mixer, for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is incorporated well. Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and mix thoroughly on slow to medium speed just until no clumps of flour remain. Stir in white chocolate chunks by hand.

To bake:

Raise oven temp to 350. Spread batter on top of cooled crust gently, to make an even layer.  (Offset spatula works well here) Drop the cream cheese mixture by teaspoonfuls over the batter. Using a butter knife, swirl the cream cheese into the batter. Bake for 29-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the pan comes out with moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake. Allow to cool to room temperature, or refrigerate for an hour, before cutting into bars. Unfortunately, the finished baked berry swirl loses a lot of it’s pretty color, but still highly edible!

why must it turn brown?!

Enjoy!