Eggnog Blondies [Low Fat]

FYI, eggnog can be pungent stuff. I am sitting here with a mugful and my head has already started to spin. It's merry spinning, though, it being Christmas and all.

When I set this month's Baking With Spirit challenge I didn't have any particular recipes in mind; eggnog seems to be pretty versatile, so there was no limit on the possibilities. In the end I settled on blondies. Gooey, soft and a little bit nutty, me and blondies get on pretty well.

Because it's Christmas and we're all a little bit prone to overindulgence at this time of year, I thought I'd make these low fat as my gift to all of you. Honestly I can't taste the difference between low fat and full fat cakes etc, and that works pretty well for me as my stomach gets a bit funny if I have too much full fat food. So really, this is a gift to me as much as it is to you. Also, if it's low fat, you can totally kid yourself that it's acceptable to have another helping, eat the Eggnog Blondies for breakfast etc. Maybe don't eat them for breakfast though - the eggnog is made with quite a lot of brandy/whisky, after all (see above).

If you can't stomach not baking with full fat goods, by all means exchange the mayonnaise for butter etc.

I made this super low fat by also making low fat eggnog. The recipe I used (from the BBC) calls for whole milk, so instead I used skimmed milk (but I swapped half the milk for low fat double cream to help the consistency). Again, if this doesn't sit right with you, just go ahead and make it full fat. After all, it is Christmas.

Makes 24
Ingredients

• 275g White Chocolate
• 375g Light Mayonnaise
• 500g Caster Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 225g Plain Flour
• 2 Tsp Nutmeg
• 200mL Eggnog (low fat if desired)

Recipe

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan, then line a roasting/brownie tin with parchment paper.
• Place the mayonnaise and white chocolate in a medium sized saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat.
• Beat the eggs into the mixture until smooth.
• Stir in the caster sugar until well combined.
• Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in. Scrape around the bottom to ensure that none of the flour is missed.
• Stir in the nutmeg.
• Fold in the eggnog - you might need to be patient with this as it will take a minute or two for it to combine well with the mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the roasting/brownie tin, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Keep checking the blondies every few minutes - you want gooey blondies, but the top needs to have set. A skewer won't come out completely clean when they are ready to be removed; remember that they will continue to cook once removed from the oven.

As implied above, I'm entering these into my monthly challenge, Baking With Spirit. The challenge this month is to bake something with eggnog, and you have until the 28th to get your entries in.