Blonde Brownies — The Coffee Cake That Anchors the Break-Fast Table

Yom Kippur. I fasted, prayed at the synagogue, sat in the pew where I have sat for forty years. David sat beside me, in what was Marvin's seat, the son in the father's place. I did not cry during Kol Nidre this year — I have cried enough at Kol Nidre; this year I simply listened, and the listening was the praying, and the praying was the sitting, and the sitting was the enduring, and the enduring is what I do.

I broke the fast at home — twelve people, bagels and lox and coffee cake, the table full, the conversation loud, the eating enthusiastic in the way of people who have not eaten for twenty-five hours and who are now in the presence of smoked salmon. I brought Marvin a break-fast plate the next morning — bagel, cream cheese, lox, a piece of coffee cake — and he ate it in his chair, slowly, and I told him about the fast, about the prayers, about the break-fast, about the twelve people at the table, and he listened, and the listening was the connection, and the connection was thin and real and mine.

I wrote a blog post about Yom Kippur — about fasting and feeding, about the paradox of a holiday that withholds food in a life organized around providing it, about the way the absence of food makes the return of food sacred. The post was good. The posts are getting better — longer, deeper, more like the book chapters, less like recipes and more like essays. The blog is becoming the practice ground for the book, the place where I test the sentences before committing them to chapters.

The coffee cake I set out that year was gone before I even sat down — twelve people, twenty-five hours of hunger, and a table that asked nothing of anyone except to eat. In the years since, I’ve come back to these blonde brownies as the sweet thing I bake the day before, the thing that travels well to the table and holds its place beside the lox and the bagels without demanding attention. They are simple and golden and entirely reliable — which is, I have come to understand, exactly what a break-fast needs.

Blonde Brownies

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy lifting.
2. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth and glossy, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Add the dry ingredients. Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, and salt over the wet mixture. Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined — do not overmix. The batter will be thick.
4. Fold in add-ins. If using, gently fold in the chocolate chips and/or nuts until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
5. Bake. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 22—26 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. The edges should be set and beginning to pull away from the sides.
6. Cool and cut. Let the blonde brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes. Use the parchment overhang to lift them out, then cut into 16 squares. Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days — or bake the day before; they keep beautifully.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 165 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 0.5g | Sodium: 65mg