One way to get those leftover Butterfingers used up!

We still had some of those mini Butterfingers leftover in the Halloween treat bowl and while I do quite like them, they don't seem to be disappearing very fast. We thought we could work them into the weekly Wednesday Treat Day and made a recipe for Butterfinger Crunch Blondies.

Rich with brown sugar, these blondies have a sticky chew to them with bits of the chopped candy scattered throughout the bars. I used about 9 of the mini bars - they are not very easy to cut into chunks as they kind of shatter when you slice through them, but I didn't mind much as I found the shards were able to be dispersed a bit better into the dough. I did find the dough was fairly stiff when it was combined, however with the help of an off-set spatula, it spread easily into the baking pan. I don't really think of blondies as being "fudgy" since that term is usually used with chocolate, but these had that same moist and dense quality to them without being underdone or wet. If you don't have Butterfingers on hand or would rather use something else, how about tossing in some chunky pieces of white chocolate?

Since we have quite the supply of cranberries after stocking up with that killer sale last weekend, I thought I could also throw together a batch of those snazzy Sugared Cranberries with their frosted crunchy coatings for Jeff to take in tomorrow. We've made them several times for past co-workers, but we had not made them yet for the Minneapolis crew!

Tonight's dinner, Sesame Chicken with Broccoli and Brown Rice, had a couple things going for it to lighten the more classic deep fried recipe. First, instead of deep frying the chopped pieces of chicken, they are sautéed in a skillet with just a little oil. To give the chicken pieces texture, they are coated in a mixture of egg whites and cornstarch which gives them a sort of ethereal crunch when they are cooked.

To make sure the chicken browns evenly and cooks thoroughly without steaming, the pieces are cooked in two batches. When both are done, all of the chicken is added back into the pan and drizzled in a mixture of honey, toasted sesame seeds, soy sauce and garlic. As soon as this mixture hits the pan, it thickens and coats the chicken in a glossy sweet sauce. Rounding out the dish is a bed of brown jasmine rice and crisp-tender steamed broccoli. Light, yet still filling, Jeff and I thought this chicken dish was quite delicious for being fairly quick to prepare (most of the time required is downtime waiting for the rice to cook!) and is one I'll keep handy for those days we want something healthy and speedy that uses pantry staples.

Recipes
Butterfinger Crunch Blondies
Sesame Chicken with Broccoli and Brown Rice