Snickerdoodle Blondies

The other day, I had just settled into my desk at work when my coworker, A- who is in charge of our facilities and maintenance, walked in and asked me if I knew I had a flat tire (I didn't).  Apparently, I had accidentally driven over a nail on the way to work, and while the tire still had enough air at the moment to make its way to a mechanic, it would have been completely deflated by the time I took my lunch break.  My coworker, who often runs errands around town as part of his job, offered to take my car to a mechanic to see if they could plug the hole.  I was surprised at the generous offer, and accepted, giving him my car keys.  Later, I got a call from him, saying that the mechanic couldn't plug the hole and that my car would need a new tire.  I told him to have them put in the new tire, and that I would send David (who is on summer break) over to the mechanic to take care of the bill.  A- told me that it wouldn't be necessary to call David, as he had enough cash on him to take care of it, and I could just pay him back whenever I had the money.  He brought my car back good as new - he even had the mechanic rotate my tires!

I don't think I've received such an extraordinary act of kindness before.  I hate dealing with car problems, so A- dealing with it for me, even though it may have seemed simple to him, was a huge blessing.  To express my gratitude, I made these snickerdoodle blondies for him. 

I was stuck on snickerdoodles, because I don't think I know a single person who doesn't like them.  However, I wanted them in bar form so that I could cut them into the perfect size to fit into the little treat boxes that I keep on hand (I like to fill the boxes as full as possible, which is hard to do with round cookies). 

These cookies are delicious: they're dense and chewy, with crispy edges (which, in my opinion, are the best parts of brownies and blondies) and are full of yummy vanilla flavor.  The dough is very simple and quick to make - it probably took me 5 minutes.  This recipe makes a small batch, but it was the perfect amount for us.  We had enough to give away and still had a couple bars left to snack on, whereas a larger batch would have left us with too many cookies.

Snickerdoodle Blondies
Adapted from Baking Bites

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8x8 pan.

Cream butter and sugar until light.  Beat in salt, egg, and vanilla.  Add flour and mix until there are no traces of flour left.  Pour dough into baking pan, spread evenly, and smooth the surface.  Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle evenly over the dough. 

Bake for 30 minutes.  Let cool before slicing.