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Cranberry-Orange Olive-Oil Blondies with White Balsamic-Orange Drizzle

These blondies offer a chewy, citrus-infused richness from the olive oil, swirled with tart cranberries and finished with a bright, tangy drizzle.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Servings 16
Calories 203 kcal

Ingredients
  

--Blondie Batter--

  • 1/2 cup Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil to loosen batter (or same amount milk or orange juice)
  • 3/4 cup Light brown sugar packed
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large Large egg yolk optional, for extra plush crumb
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp Finely grated orange zest
  • 1 cup All-purpose flour spooned and leveled
  • 3/8 tsp Baking powder altitude adjustment: 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp
  • 1/2 tsp Fine salt
  • 1/2 cup White chocolate chips

--Cranberry Swirl--

  • 1/3 cup Whole-berry cranberry sauce thick
  • 1 teaspoon orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon crushed pistachios

--White Balsamic-Orange Drizzle--

  • 1 cup Powdered sugar sifted
  • 1 Tbsp White balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp Fresh orange juice
  • 1 pinch Fine salt
  • 1 tsp Light corn syrup
  • 1 tsp orange juice as needed to thin

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven to 350°F.
  • Line an 8-inch square pan with a parchment sling. Whisk 1/2 cup olive oil with brown sugar until glossy.
  • Whisk in egg (and yolk if using), vanilla, and orange zest.
  • In a separate medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder (reduced for altitude), and salt; fold into the wet mixture.
  • If batter is very thick, mix in 1 to 2 Tbsp more olive oil or 1 to 2 Tbsp milk or orange juice to loosen. Reserve 2 to 3 Tbsp batter in a small zip bag for piping.
  • Spread batter in the pan. Loosen cranberry sauce with 1 to 2 tsp hot water or orange juice until spoonable.
  • Using a small offset spatula, carve 3-4 shallow trenches across the batter. Dollop cranberry into trenches; pipe the reserved batter in thin ribbons around the dollops. Lightly swirl in figure-8s with a skewer. Sprinkle nuts if using.
  • Bake 18-24 minutes until edges are set and the surface just turns matte (toothpick: a few moist crumbs). Cool completely in the pan.

For drizzle:

  • Whisk powdered sugar, white balsamic, orange juice, vanilla, salt, and corn syrup or honey until silky. Thin by the 1/2 tsp with milk or orange juice to a ribbon that disappears in 5-7 seconds.
  • Drizzle over cooled blondies; let set 10-20 minutes. Cut into 16 squares.
Keyword Bars and Brownies, Cranberry, Holiday Sweets, Orange