My brother once dated a woman named Claudia who had two Persian cats, a great joie de vivre, and the best blondie recipe I ever tasted. Claudia and my brother went their separate ways, but as long as there are chocolate chips in the world, I’ll still be making this recipe. Over the years I’ve adapted it (in the original recipe, which included walnuts, the chips were stirred into the batter, but they would invariably sink to the bottom of the pan and melt by the time the dough was baked through).

These are guaranteed to sell out at any bake sale, and they are, hands-down, the most frequently requested homemade treat in our house.