stanley's banana brownies.

                  

for valentine's day, my thoughtful boyfriend was unable to present me with the elephant I so desired. I had a name picked out and everything. my large and lumbering companion would be known by his friends as Stanley. unrealistic I know.  so instead, I made blondies in honor of our imaginary yet ever present companion.  I promise we're not crazy*

These blondies can be adapted and tailored to suit your desired tastes.  Recipe adapted via Smitten Kitchen's Blondies (themselves adapted from How to Cook Everything)

Stanley's Banana Chocolate Chip Blondies. 

Preheat oven to 350°

1 stick of butter (unsalted).

1 cup of packed brown sugar.

1 egg. (or 1/4 cup of applesauce if eggs are absent from your refrigerator).

1 tsp. vanilla. 

1 very ripe, frozen and thawed banana.

1 cup chocolate chips.

.5 cup chopped walnuts. 

Mix softened butter and brown sugar. Add in egg and vanilla, mix.  Mixture will be grainy from the brown sugar.  Stir in desired extras (banana, chocolate chips, and walnuts).  Pour blondie batter into a 8x8 pan (or a round baking dish like I used). check periodically while in oven. bake for 20-25 minutes. bananas will cause the end result to be a little gooier than normal brownies, take into consideration when determining time spent in the oven.  

*Stanley began as a euphemism and answer for any prying questions regarding christmas/birthday/anniversary/valentines presents.  i.e. "so what  did you get me for Christmas?" ... "well the elephant is supposed to arrive on monday"... "you got me an elephant?" ... "of course, they're your favorite".  end of story.