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Your next celebration day is Feb. 14. Meantime, satisfy your sweet tooth on Saturday -- National Blond Brownie Day.

Frankly, "blond brownie" -- the pale cousin of the traditional all-American fudge bar -- is an oxymoron. A brownie is a bar cookie that has chocolate in its batter. Take the chocolate out, and you have what's more often called a "blondie," which offers a butterscotch flavor.

Inquiring food historians have even studied which came first. According to several cookbooks -- one dating to 1747 -- blondie-type recipes, such as gingerbread and butterscotch bars, preceded the genuine brownie in home kitchens. Mass production of chocolate and cocoa, according to www.foodtimeline.org, did not occur in this country until the beginning of the 20th century.

Some sources claim that blondies are a specialty of Southern cooking.

Regardless, blondies won't stand to be second-class citizens. They are important enough to deserve their own chapters in two books published by Cook's Illustrated magazine: "America's 2005 Test Kitchen Live!" (America's Test Kitchen, $29.95) and "Baking Illustrated: The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker" (America's Test Kitchen, $35).

Christopher Kimball, founder of Cook's Illustrated and host of its popular television show "America's Test Kitchen," says blondies, as well as brownies, are tricky to make.

"This is one of the hard ones," he says. "The biggest thing is how you deal with the butter." During marathon testing to pinpoint the "best" recipe -- one of the prime missions of Cook's Illustrated -- the kitchen testers were looking for a denser and chewier recipe than the standard, which Kimball describes as "dry, floury and flavorless."

Recipes for blondies gathered from a variety of sources had essentially the same ingredients, Kimball says, but in different proportions. They had dramatically different textures, ranging from cakey and light to dense and buttery. Some were too dense, tasting of little more than raw flour and butter.

Kimball says the staff discovered that melting the butter -- instead of creaming it in softened form with the brown sugar -- does the trick.

Blondie tips:

• Never use cake flour.

• Do use a leavener -- in this case, baking powder.

• Always fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture at the end -- never beat.

The "official" recipe features light brown sugar -- dark brown was overpowering -- salt and a substantial amount of vanilla to ensure butterscotchy results. Although walnuts are traditional, tasters liked pecans better, and white chocolate chips were added for their cocoa butter to highlight both the vanilla and caramel flavors.

However, Kimball cautions, "Slight variations yield very different results." Humid or very dry weather and an oven that needs calibration also will affect the finished product.

Cook's Illustrated's recipe for Blondies indicates doneness when "the top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch."

However, Lori Longbotham, author of "Luscious Chocolate Desserts" and "Luscious Lemon Desserts" (Chronicle Books, $19.95 each) says home bakers can go one step further.

"Testing for doneness is not the same as with a cake," she says. "Generally, for a cake, you insert a pick in the middle and it should come out dry. With brownies or blondies, you don't want dry. A wooden pick in the center should come out sticky with a few crumbs clinging, but it shouldn't be wet."

Longbotham's recipe for Katharine Hepburn's Brownies from "Luscious Chocolate Desserts" -- which the author shared for chocoholics who can't wait until next month -- also uses melted butter in the batter.

Blondies and brownies are a taste of home to Americans, Longbotham says.

"You won't find them in French bakeries, and you won't see them in Europe -- Americans miss them when they travel there," she says.

"They are a 'mother love' kind of dessert."

Be good to your pan

If you bake bar cookies in a metal pan, the biggest headache is cutting them without marring the bottom surface of the baking dish. Even a plastic knife can leave small scratches.

Here's a technique for removing blondies or brownies -- any bar cookie -- from a pan without having to cut and scrape. The trick is to prepare the pan before adding the batter so the baked and cooked product can easily be lifted out for cutting.

To do this: Place two sheets of aluminum foil or parchment paper perpendicular to each other in the pan, pushing the foil or paper into the corners. After the bars have baked and cooled, use the foil or paper to lift the blondies out of the pan and to transfer to a cutting board. Slice into individual portions.

Source: "America's 2005 Test Kitchen Live!" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine (America's Test Kitchen, $29.95)

Here are blondie recipes -- and a fudgy brownie thrown in for chocolate lovers. These recipes are quick and easy.

This recipe is from "America's Test Kitchen Live! 2005" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine (America's Test Kitchen, $29.95).

Blondies

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2) ounces unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with 2 pieces of foil. Coat the foil-lined pan with vegetable cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter and brown sugar together until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.

Fold in the semisweet and white chocolate chips and the nuts, and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake until the top is shiny and cracked and feels firm to the touch, for 22 to 25 minutes. Place the pan on a rack and let cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2- by 2-inch bars.

Makes 36 bars.

Congo Bars: Place 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut on a rimmed baking sheet on the middle oven rack and toast at 350 degrees, stirring 2 to 3 times, until light golden, for 4 to 5 minutes. Follow the recipe for Blondies, folding in the toasted coconut along with the chocolate chips and nuts.

These creative blondies are made in muffin cups. Alberta Richter of Lockport, Ill., developed this recipe for the 34th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 1990. To melt caramels in a microwave oven, place them in a small, microwave-safe bowl with 1 tablespoon water. Microwave on high power for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Blond Brownie Caramel Cups

For the cups:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

  For the topping:

• 20 caramels, unwrapped
• 1 tablespoon water, more if needed
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 16 muffin cups with foil or paper baking cups.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Add the vanilla and egg; mix well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt; blend well. Stir in 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Divide the batter evenly into the lined muffin cups. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels with 1 tablespoon water, stirring constantly until smooth. Immediately after the pans are removed from the oven, place chocolate chips evenly into the middle of each brownie. Spoon 1 scant tablespoon caramel over the chocolate chips in each cup. If necessary, stir additional water into the melted caramels to maintain a spoonable consistency.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts evenly over the brownies. Cool completely. Store in a tightly covered container.

Makes 16 brownies.

This recipe is from "The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook" by P.J. Hamel, Susan Reid and the bakers at King Arthur Flour (The Countryman Press, $29.95). These are tender and cakelike with a bit of pleasant chew; serve with a scoop of ice cream on top. For a more delicate flavor, use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. If you choose lemon flavor, add a tablespoon or so of grated lemon peel for added punch.

Scandinavian Blondies

• Butter, for greasing baking pan
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon almond or lemon extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) sliced almonds (optional)

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease an 8- by 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, beat the eggs well, until light-colored and thick. Add the sugar and salt, continuing to beat until shiny and pale yellow. Add the extract, melted butter and 1/2 cup flour, folding it in gently. Fold in the remaining 1/2 cup flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the nuts. Bake the bars for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan and they are a very light gold color. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into squares.

This recipe is from "Luscious Chocolate Desserts" by Lori Longbotham (Chronicle Books, $19.95). The author says she got the recipe from Family Circle magazine about 20 years ago, and the brownies have long been her benchmark. "Serve the brownies as is or dress them up with a dab of creme fraiche and chocolate curls added to each one just before serving."

Let the brownies cool completely before you do any cutting. Use a sharp knife rinsed in hot water and dried between each cut. The brownies are easiest to cut if you chill them before cutting, but they are best served at room temperature. To freeze, wrap each individually.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.

Melt the 1 stick butter and the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of about 1 1/2 inches of nearly simmering water, whisking until smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the sugar, eggs and vanilla, and whisk until well blended. Whisk in the flour and salt just until well blended. Stir in the walnuts. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out sticky, with just a few crumbs clinging to it, but is not wet. Do not overbake.

Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Chill, if you have the time, then cut into 9 brownies.

Makes 9 large brownies.

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