Black Tea Blondies

This week's recipe is brought to you by the book Going Shogun, a free Amazon Kindle download. The very funny SciFi-ish mystery thriller is set in a dystopian USA where a caste system of society is in place and everybody works hard to "Ascend" to the next level. The novel has nothing to do with shogun or the Japanese. The protagonists work in a popular restaurant that serves outrageous food items such as Stuffed Pigeon Cactus topped with a strawberry pop marinade, or Sausage Gravy Ice Cube, or Cheesecake Meatloaf. The only "normal" sounding item is Butter Tea Brownies which gave me the idea of making Black Tea Blondies. 

BTW, Butter Tea is actually a salted Tibetan tea drink which is very good and is more like soup because it has no sugar. 

For this recipe I used Indian loose black tea leaves blend of Darjeeling, Earl Grey, and Assam blossoms. The black tea blend is very fragrant, not too strong, and is best suited for chai and baked desserts.

Black Tea Blondies
½ cup water
1 tablespoon loose black tea leaves
½ cup butter
¾ cup fine golden raw sugar or light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon kosher salt 

¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg yolk

½ cup white chocolate chips, optional

• Combine water and tea leaves in a small saucepan. Simmer until tea water is reduced to ¼ cup. Drain, squeezing as much liquid from leaves; discard tea leaves.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. 
• Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil. 
• In a medium saucepan heat sugar and butter over medium heat until butter melts and mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. 
• Stir in egg yolk and tea water. Stir in flour, baking soda, and white chocolate chips, if using.
• Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm.