Maple Leaf Blondies

1/2 C butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar, packed firm
2 eggs
1 1/2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. maple flavoring
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips
maple leaf cookie cutter
maple icing- recipe below

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Stir in maple flavoring.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, a little bit at a time until well blended. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Pour batter in the 9 x 13 pan and spread out evenly.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Blondies will still be soft. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes, then cut out maple leaf shapes using a cookie cutter. Lay maple leaves on a cooling rack to finish cooling completely before frosting with maple icing.

Maple Icing

1 C. powdered sugar
1 tsp butter, softened
1 to 2 tsp milk
1 tsp maple flavoring

Mix powdered sugar, butter, 1 tsp of milk and maple flavoring together. If the frosting is too thick, thin out with 1 more tsp of milk.

Store in a sealed container. Do not stack blondies once they are frosted. Best served within 2 days.

About the Author:
Tami Rose lives in North Carolina with her husband and 2 children. She is always on the lookout for fun, easy recipes that any age group can make. She is the Assistant Administrator on the MomsMenu.com forums. You can find her there under the username of "ajrsmom".