Sesame Ginger Blondies

So Husband left for the gym, and I've been stressing myself out over our upcoming home purchase.  Seriously, I'm shocked that I haven't just cried every day for the past two weeks trying to deal with this whole home thing. I don't know if it's because I'm overly anxious, or under-ly fond of our realtor, or because things have been more difficult than they really ought to be, or because money is running short, or, or, or... Yes, it's all of these things.

When I'm stressed, I bake.  And I also come up with super weird flavor combinations?  Husband, being the sweet man that he is, gifted me with the below pictured ginger preserves, and I wanted to do something fun with them.  I remembered this recipe for jam blondies, and the wheels began to turn.  And then I saw this recipe for sesame cookies.  Sesame and ginger are such perfect flavors together!  It was decided.

And then of course I did something even more weird, and added soy sauce to the batter.  It was a perfect decision.  As was the super light ginger soy glaze I added on top, just to infuse a bit more of those Asian flavors.

P.S.  I thought for a second that it would be funny to name these bars Harajuku Girls (get it, Asian blondies...?  Huh... Huh...?)  Buuuuut I figured that probably wasn't very politically correct.  I'm just saying, though.  If it starts to catch on, you heard it from me first!

P.P.S. I know not everyone will be gifted with a beautiful bottle of ginger preserves.  Mainly, let this blog post be a lesson to you that if you're craving something that is typically meant for dinner, try throwing it in your dessert!  You may just come up with something delightful!  And also, I have a feeling, if you don't have ginger preserves, that you could mix a good bit of ginger powder in with some honey and marble that into these beauties instead.

Sesame Ginger Blondies
inspired via Joy the Baker

1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar, unpacked
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 1/4 tsp. sesame seeds, divided
2 Tbs. to 1/4 c. ginger preserves

Optional: Soy Ginger Glaze
1 tsp. ginger preserves
1/4 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. water
1/4 c. powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8"x8" pan and line with parchment (if you have it.)

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once completely melted, turn off heat and add brown sugar, stirring to combine.  Pour butter-sugar mixture into a bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and soy sauce.  Mix with a fork til well combined.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix together until no white streaks remain.  Add 1 tsp. of the sesame seeds, and mix to incorporate.

Pour blondie batter into the prepared pan.  Dollop ginger preserves into batter, and run a knife or fork through the batter to marble the preserves in.  Sprinkle the top with remaining 1/4 tsp. sesame seeds.  Bake for 20-23 minutes until edges pull away from pan (try not top open the oven in the middle of baking or your middle will sink.)  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then use edges of parchment to remove blondies to cool completely.

For optional soy ginger glaze, melt together the preserves, soy sauce, and water until liquidy and slightly syrupy.  Add powdered sugar and whisk with a fork til incorporated.  The glaze should coat a brush, but run off easily (you want it fairly runny).  Brush glaze over blondies while still hot from the oven.  You won't use all of the glaze; you just want a light coat with some parts of the blondie not saturated.

Chop in generous squares and serve.  These would be excellent with a honey ice cream or as a dessert following an asian meal (not authentic in the least, but great flavors to mirror the food!)