Bringing that old school nostalgia by combining a school dinner dessert with a sweet treat to create these cornflake tart blondies which are equally gooey but still have that crunch from the cornflakes.
Who remembers having cornflake tart as one of the pudding options at school? Crisp tart case, hot jam centre (if served warm) and they that topped with cornflakes for added crunch. Now why can’t these elements be added into a blondie for a treat you can eat without a spoon. If you want to turn these into more of a dessert you could always serve the blondies warm with a serving of your custard of choice.
Star Ingredient
Who has heard of pie crumbs? I will admit that until I got a recipe book off my friend for Christmas from Crumbs and Doilies, I hadn’t. In the book there a several different types that are used for different recipes throughout the book. For this recipe I used the crumble pie crumbs – not sure why I picked them over the normal pie crumbs – they would work just as well if not maybe better, but hey I do love crumble, better if topped on a pie.
These nodules of baked crumbs give that taste of a pastry pie dough in various size pieces. As they are small, it allows them to be distributed throughout the blondies to provide that sense of the pastry tart cases that a cornflake tart would normally have.
Below is the recipe from Crumbs and Doilies so that you can add them to the blondie recipe. I included just one batch of these in the blondie recipe which was 135g when I weighed post baking.
Crumble pie crumb
Ingredients:
- 80g Plain Flour
- 20g Rolled/Porridge Oats
- 10g Caster Sugar
- 10g Demerara Sugar (I used just light brown sugar)
- Pinch of Salt
- 40g Unsalted Butter/Plant Butter, melted
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a baking tray with a silicone baking mat or baking parchment paper
Mix all the ingredients together in a cover with a wooden spoon – if looking a bit wet, add 10g extra flour, if a bit dry add a little cold water
Once starting to clump together, use your fingers to comb through the mixture to create nuggets of various sizes (the nuggets should fall through your fingers)
Scatter the nuggets evenly on the baking tray
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and no longer doughy – shuffle halfway through baking
Leave to cool completely before using or storing in an airtight container
How to Purchase Ingredients to be more Conscious to the Planet
Zero waste shops stock cereal options so you don’t have to get them from the supermarket where you will end up with the plastic bag inner to the cupboard box. I took a long one of my drawstring produce bags when I picked up my cornflakes but something that would work really well for them too, would be the Kilner bulk bags. They work well for items such as cereals, granola, oats, pasta, and rice. They come in two different sizes – medium and small. You could take any container to be fair, as long as it closes in some form.
If you do have a box with the plastic still or get yours from the supermarket, check out Nancy Birtwhistle as she has tips on how you can use up the plastic bags from cereals (especially when it comes to mince pies).
Buying local jams or making your own is a great way to support local or having more time experiment in the kitchen.
Ingredients you can buy Plastic Free
- Cornflakes
- Jam
- Plain flour
- Oats
- Caster sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Baking powder
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Salt
Equipment You Will Need
- Freestanding Mixer or Bowl with Handheld mixer
- Spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- 8 inch square baking tin
- Baking Parchment Paper
- Cooling rack
- Microwaveable bowl
Tips and Tricks when Baking Cornflake Tart Blondies
Switch up the Jam
The jam within these blondies can easily be changed to create a different taste. Raspberry or strawberry, I would say would give that classic cornflake tart feel but you could experiment with blueberry, blackberry, cherry, apricot or whichever is your favourite jam.
Play around with the Crumb and Cornflake mix
You might think that there is a lot of cornflakes and or crumb within these blondies (especially as cornflakes are very light). If these is the case for you, you could always reduce the amounts slightly to find your perfect ratio.
Alternative the crumble pie crumb could be swapped to just the plain pie crumb from Crumbs and Doilies or baking up some shortcrust pastry and then chop up and stir through.
Gooey or Cakey?
This is a debate within itself, whether you prefer more gooey or cakey brownies and blondies. I find the that the time I have popped in the method creates a mix of the two – the edge pieces are a bit more cakey while the middle four pieces are more gooey so you can accommodate everyone. If you prefer more gooey – bake more on the 30 minutes side, if what all more cakey bake for potentially 40-45 minutes. Make sure that you chill to get the gooey fudgy texture.
Cornflake Tart Blondies
Equipment
- Freestanding Mixer or Bowl with Handheld mixer
- Spatula
- Measuring Spoons
- 8 inch square baking tin
- Baking parchment
- Cooling rack
- Microwaveable bowl
Ingredients
- 135 g Margarine or Plant Based Butter
- 200 g Caster Sugar
- 135 g Light Brown Sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ¼ Teaspoon of Vanilla
- 270 g Plain Flour
- ¼ Teaspoon Baking Powder
- A good pinch of Salt
- 135 g Pie Crumb
- 165 g Cornflakes
- 5 Teaspoons of Jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees
- Grease and line your 8 inch square baking tin
- Pop the margarine or butter into the microwaveable bowl and melt in the microwave – about 30 seconds but do in 10 seconds intervals
- Allow to cool slightly while you pop the caster sugar and light brown sugar into a bowl
- Add in the slightly cooled melt butter and using a whisk attachment combine with the sugar – only for a minute or two, you are not aiming to increase the volume of the mixture
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and again whisk to combine
- Add in the flour, baking powder and salt, using a spatula fold together
- Take 2 handfuls of cornflake out of the total amount and add the remaining into the mixture along with the pie crumb, fold through until even distributed
- Pour the blondie batter into the lined baking tin and spread evenly
- Dollop 5 heaped teaspoons of jam on the top of blondie mixture and then using a spatula, swirl into the batter
- With the leftover cornflakes sprinkle one handful over the top of the blondies and then crush the remaining into small pieces before sprinkling over
- Baking in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until a skewer comes out with still a bit of gooey mixture – you may want to pop a foil hat onto of your blondies halfway through your cooking time to make sure that the cornflakes don’t burn
- Leaving to cool in the tin fully and then pop into the fridge for at least 2 hours to firm up
- Cut into 16 even squares
- Enjoy as they come, or you can always warm up in the microwave and serve with hot custard to turn into a dessert
Some of the links within this post may be affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission. This is at no extra cost to you. These commissions help support the work I do here at Plastic Free Baking Pantry. It allows me to continue sharing delicious recipes and sustainable living tips with you. Rest assured, I only recommend products and services that I personally use and love. Thank you for your support!
Leave a Reply