I found the first crocus blooming in my front yard yesterday. I could have cried with happiness. I was literally down in the dirt making sure it was real! Please, please let this mean that Spring truly is right around the corner!!

But in the mean time, we are still battling some seriously gray weather here in Seattle. I mean, I know that is sort of what we are known for around here, but it still gets rough, even on the natives. Baking really seems to chase away the blues for me though. And since some of my fondest memories of childhood were of coming home from school to a house full of baking, I love to do that for my girls.

I mean, if you can’t be outside playing, than it is not half bad to be inside with fresh baked goods and an afterschool art project, right?

These Chai Spiced Brownies were the perfect thing for a dreary afternoon. The whole house filled with baking spices, sugar and butter to draw the kids (and poor drooling Mason) to the kitchen searching for whatever it was baking away in the oven. And upon tasting them, these blondies did not disappoint!

These turned out to be such a great treat for school lunches, after dinner treats and basically for me to have with coffee for breakfast. Please don’t judge me.

To make these blondies, this is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×13 jelly roll pan (sheet pan with sides) with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs and whip until fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and mix until you have a thick sticky dough.

Spread the dough out over the sheet pan in an even layer. (I smoothed mine with a damp off-set spatula.)

Bake the blondies at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before slicing them into bars.