White Chocolate Pomegranate Blondies

We had a crazy busy weekend here in Utah. But so much fun! We were planning on going to Idaho for my father's birthday but a freak storm came and destroyed our plans. We were really looking forward to getting away so we decided to have a "staycation" instead. We booked a room at the Hampton Inn because they have a pool and a hot breakfast. We went to the UCCU Family Festival at UVU. Tons of fun! You should definitely take your kids next year if you live in Utah County. We swam, ate lots of food, shopped for fun (we never shop anymore, except when necessary), and relaxed in front of Disney Junior. It was the perfect weekend. But it also didn't allow anytime for cooking. So Monday I decided we needed a little treat and I whipped up some of these!

Mmm, this is the perfect fall/winter treat. Which is great because our fall has kind of meshed in with our winter. I love the white chocolate with the pomegranate arils. Plus these are so easy to whip up! The hardest part is deseeding the pomegranate and melting the white chocolate.

To deseed the pomegranate: Get a bowl of cold water. Cut your pomegranate in half (not like an apple where you would cut from stem down. Cut around the "belly"). Hold the pomegranate loosely in your hand cut side down and take the back of a spoon and thwack (I love that word!) the pomegranate all around it and shake out the arils into the bowl of water. The water will allow any membrane that comes loose to rise and the seeds to sink.

To melt white chocolate: This is actually really easy. If you try to melt white chocolate like any other chocolate it will seize up within seconds and form a crumbly mess. You can always melt your white chocolate over a double boiler over simmering water but that's entirely too many dishes for me. Here's what I do. Put 1/4 cup white chocolate chips in a glass or ceramic dish with 1/2-1 tsp vegetable or coconut oil. Now microwave the chocolate in 20 second increments at 40% power, stirring after each round. When the chocolate gets to a stirrable consistency, even though not completely melted, just stir until smooth instead of putting it back into the microwave. See, not so hard.

White Chocolate Pomegranate Blondies  

3/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 - 1 cup pomegranate arils

1 cup white chocolate chips  
   

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar  

1 Tbsp grated orange peel

1/2 cup white chocolate, melted

1/2 - 1 cup pomegranate arils 

   

In a microwave, melt butter; stir in brown sugar. Transfer to bowl of mixer and cool to room temperature. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in cinnamon, salt, baking powder and flour. Stir in pomegranate arils and white chocolate (batter will be thick).  

Spread into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack.  This is best if you let cool for at least an hour.

For frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and orange peel until blended. Gradually add the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate if desired. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. 

Serve this with some velvety hot chocolate and you have the perfect afternoon treat on a cold day!