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The crust to my "blondies," which I call coconut chews, when cooked and ready to eat separate and crumble away from the body of the rest of the chew. The crust consists of 1 cup flour, 2 Tab brown sugar and 1/2 cup melted butter. Directions say to cook the crust at a preheated 300 degree temp. for 20 minutes. The rest of the chew consists of brown sugar, flour, eggs, walnuts and vanilla which I addd to the cooked crust and cook the whole mixture for 25 min. at 350 temp. I have checked to make sure that my oven is calibrated properly. It all tastes wonderful, but looks terrible when I cut them and the crust falls away and crumbles from the rest. Any ideas as to what can be done? Thanks. Marby

Hi marby, is your crust still hot when you add the topping or do you let it cool? I know when I make lemon bars I add the filling to the crust as soon as it comes out of the oven. Also, does this happen each time you've used this recipe? If so, I would try another one. It might be a good idea to check online and compare your recipe to some others. Dorie Greenspan is a great source. I have her "Baking From My Home to Yours," and this recipe is in it. However, this recipe doesn't have a separate crust and filling...it's all incorporated. I haven't tried these but am guessing the flavor/texture is very good.

Chewy, Chunky Blondies

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

~Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.

~Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

~Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

~Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

Thanks Champagne. Yes, I do add the filling to the crust immediately and I agree I might have to switch recipes so thanks for yours. Sounds yummy. Marby

One reason the crust may be crumbly is that the crust must be patted down firmly in the pan before baking. The flour/butter particles must fuse together.

Oh Dorothy, thanks so much for that tip. I'm not a very experienced baker and would not know to think about that. Now I feel motivated to try that recipe again. Smiley face: Marby

Pressing down the crust will make a world of difference. Never thought of asking you that. I just assumed you did it. Clever girl Dorothy!

I just assumed, too...the recipe should instruct to press the crust down. Good thinking, Dorothy.

Thanks for your support. I did in fact make the recipe twice again ( a family favorite!!) in the last few weeks and discovered that when I used the dark brown sugar the crust, did adhere better to the filling with my pressing down. But when I used light brown sugar, it wasn't as effective, although Champagne mentioned that I should add the filling immediately to the crust which I may not have done with the light brown sugar version. I think I'm getting the hang of it..Marby

Glad to hear it, Marby. Dark brown sugar has more molasses in it than light brown. I'm not sure it would make that much of a difference, but maybe the extra moisture in the dark brown sugar helped with your problem. Keep on baking...and posting here!