I first tasted rosewater several years ago at my stepdaughter’s first grade class party, which was thrown by a lovely Persian family. They served rose ice cream, a rich and creamy rose-flavored concoction that was absolutely heavenly. I’d come across rosewater many times in my vintage and historical cookbooks; it was one of the most common flavorings in Medieval England and Colonial America. Its early popularity in America waned as vanilla extract and other flavorings became more widespread, however rosewater remains a prominent flavoring in Persian, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine.
Though the idea of rose-flavored foods and beverages may seem slightly odd, when used properly the floral essence of rosewater is light and lovely – not at all overpowering. The practice of using steam to distill oil from flower petals was discovered sometime around 1000 BC. The method was initially used to administer drugs, but it wasn’t long before flower essences like rosewater and orange blossom water were used in cooking and creating perfumes. In the case of rosewater, fresh Damask rose petals are used. During Shavuot, rose is traditional with Sephardic Jews, who refer to the holiday as “the Feast of Roses.”
I’ve been wanting to create a dessert with rosewater for a few months now. Inspired by that first taste of rose ice cream, I was set on making something sweet and incorporating both rosewater and pistachios (another popular Persian ingredient). I originally tried this concept with brownies, but something about the flavor combination didn’t work for me. My genius assistant Ashley suggested we try it with blondies. The first try wasn’t quite right; it was missing some richness. I decided to brown the butter, which adds a nutty depth to the flavor, and I added some white chocolate chunks. The resulting tender, cookie-like blondies were rich, exotic, and completely irresistible. Top a warm blondie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling totally decadent.
Rosewater can be found at most Middle Eastern and kosher markets. If you’re having trouble locating or you’d rather not use it, feel free to substitute 1 1/4 tsp vanilla. But I really suggest you try the rose flavoring, it’s kind of magical. Have you ever cooked with rosewater?
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Pistachio Rose Blondies with White Chocolate
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (you may substitute canola oil - I prefer avocado oil for health reasons)
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (heaping)
- 1/2 cup raw pistachios
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons rosewater
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a small saucepan, whisk the butter over medium heat until it turns golden brown and has a nutty aroma. Careful, don't let the butter burn. Remove from heat as soon as it's golden and place the pan on a cool surface.
- Once the browned butter has cooled, transfer to a mixing bowl and combine with the oil, brown sugar and eggs. Whisk until well combined.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine thoroughly with a whisk.
- In a small bowl, toss the pistachios and white chocolate chips with some of the flour mixture. This will help prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the batter during baking.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture along with the rosewater and mix very thoroughly.
- Fold in the floured pistachios and white chocolate chips, along with the flour they were tossed in.
- Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour in the batter.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center of the blondies has set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
Research Source:
Marks, Gil (2010). Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. Wiley. Hoboken, NJ.
Deeeeelicious
Only change 1/2 cup avocado oil instead!
Glad you liked it Sandra! Over time I’ve also started using avocado oil in baked goods like this one. I’ll adjust the recipe to reflect that.
These are absolutely amazing. I’ve made them twice now, and they’ve quickly become a favorite recipe.
If I wanted to make them with/for a friend with a tree nut allergy, is there anything you would suggest we use in place of the pistachios? I assume we could just double the white chocolate chips, but I’m wondering if there’s anything we could use to maintain the crunch provided by the pistachios.
Sunflower seeds might work nicely.
I just made these to serve for dessert after Rosh Hashanah dinner. The oil + butter seemed like a lot, so I added slightly less than the 1/2 cup of oil called for. The amount of sugar seemed high too, but I left that the same. Well, I am sad to say this is a waste of good ingredients. This is saturated with oil and will make everyone’s fingers super greasy. Upon tasting, not only is it excessively oily, but it is also cloyingly sweet. A lot of recipes on this site are part of my canon, but this will not be added. I am going to have to dump these and buy a dessert because I am now out of time before dinner. Very disappointed.
Holly, I’m so sorry to hear this recipe wasn’t to your liking! This is actually one of my favorite recipes on the site. I do like them because they are moist, and yes they are sweet – but I don’t find them cloying. At any rate, I always hate to hear that something hasn’t worked out well for a reader. Better luck next time!
Is your calorie rating for this recipe x 12 for the whole baking tray?
I would love to make them but they are extremely calorie rich or are these big servings.?
Calories are calculated for 12 servings in a 9×9 inch baking tray. They’re calorie rich. But worth it!
Hi, Ava! My husband and I use gluten free flour all the time, and have found that sweet treats do not suffer when g-f flour is substituted for wheat flour. There seems to be a difference in how long to bake something, sometimes. Using g-f flour for something like pizza can mean a difference. — Bjo
The blondies recipe brings back old memories. Mother was never one for sweets, but when she did bake, she did it right. During WWII, she took cookies to the local USO, and blondies were very popular. Since chocolate was not always available, blondies were a good substitute. Her recipe was very different from yours, of course. Yours is even more tasty with the rose water.
It is always a pleasure to read your wonderful recipes, and memories of foods you ate as a child. In these trying times, reading the recipes is even more fun. Thanks. You don’t have to answer this. It’s just me rambling. — Bjo
I love your rambling, Bjo. In these weird times, we’re all so separate from one another. Cooking and sharing food memories is a point of connection, for me – that’s why I do this with my whole heart. This site is truly a labor of love, and I appreciate it when others share their own memories. Thank you!
I can’t eat any kind of chocolate so I was thinking of using dried fruit instead, like apricots or cherries. Do you think that would work?
Dried cherries would be nice 🙂
made these yesterday, they are very good but i only used 1 tablespoon of rosewater and they were a bit to flowery….i think they would be better with only 1 tsp of rosewater which can be very overpowering.
Hi Tori,
This looks like a fabulous recipe. Def will try it. But first:
Did I miss your memorial tribute to the late great food historian Gil Marks, who passed away in 2014? I noticed you used him as a resource for this recipe. I had read that you were planning to write about him and the immense influence he has been on your work and on such fine writer-cooks as Claudia Roden. Please send me a link if you’ve already done this. Thank you. Love your work.
Wildcard you can read it here: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2015/01/a-tribute-to-gil-marks/
Just made them! So delicious! I used dry roasted unsalted pistachios and ghirardelli white chocolate. Love rose water. Maybe I’ll use an extra tbsp next time. Yum!
So happy you liked these Elian, they are a new favorite of mine as well. It’s a great recipe to bring along to a potluck!
Thanks for something different to make, I will try it! I love rosewater and have made the India dessert of rice in milk with sugar and rosewater. I keep the rosewater in the refrigerator toward the back so it will stay fresh longer as that was the only recipe I bought it for. It is also used in the healing arts as a purification, sprayed in a mist over you. It’s heavenly.
If I had pistachios I would make them right now. I have a bottle of rosewater that I purchased quite awhile ago and never opened. Seems in perfect shape. Definitely going to make in the next few days. Thanks. Will let you know how they came out
Our guests loved the blondies – they were exceptional with the semi-sweet chocolate. The rose water is a nice complement to the deep chocolate and the blondie batter.
Thank you for reporting back Naomi!
Tori-since you’re melting the butter in the recipe, can you use vegetable/canola oil instead? Thanks & love your blog!
Hi Simone– yes, you can, however the flavor will suffer. Part of the thing that makes these so yummy is the browned butter. The oil will leave them tasting rather bland, in my opinion.