Blonde Brownies (Or Blonde Girl Scouts, ha)

I have been somewhat homesick for Texas the last week or so, and in so doing, got out my “Cooking Texas Style” cookbook. This recipe I started using in the 1970’s and it is like a giant chocolate chip cookie if you add chocolate chips. If not, it is such a gooey, rich dessert that you can serve it with Butter Pecan ice cream or Caramel ice cream and it makes a wonderful summer dessert for family or guests.
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
3/4 teas baking powder
1 teas vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
*Optional 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Cream softened butter, add sugar and eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla and mix well. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips, if using.
Spread the batter evenly in a greased and floured 9×13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min. *A few times, I have broken up Hershey’s bars (6 of them) over the top as soon as I pull them out of the oven, let sit a couple of min and then spread over entire surface. Store in fridge if you do this, but cut them after it sets and hardens a little before placing them in fridge. That way, the chocolate topping won’t crack when you are trying to cut them into bars while the chocolate is hardened from the fridge.*