Though we've never been able to choose sides on the vanilla-versus-chocolate debate, blondies as unique as these render the traditional brownie somewhat uninspired.

Frites & Fries' recipe for Butterscotch and Whiskey Bars inventively pairs the dulcet butterscotch with a not-so-subtle dash of whiskey (a quarter cup!), adding a pleasurably harsher nuttiness to what becomes a complex, sweet-savory confection. The grown-up recipe aims to please both those with a penchant for sweets and those with a weakness for whiskey -- and provides an easy, soul-warming wintery treat.

The flexible blondie serves as a vessel to showcase whatever ingredients you favor, from cranberry and white chocolate, to coconut and lime. What are your favorite blondie additions? Share your recommendations in the comments!

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Ghost blondie in the spotlight. Photo: Monika Bartyzel.

Zombies, ghosts, bats and creepy crawlies -- these are the gems of Halloween, the lone holiday that lets the masses get dark and scary, the only time of the year when ghoulish elements are actually welcome in baking.

One of the easiest ways to get into the Halloween spirit with minimal special equipment is baking Halloween-themed brownies and blondies.There's no special skill required, yet the resulting treats are just how we like them: dense, rich and classically sweet. They can also be embellished with frosting to give the witch creepy eyes, the pumpkin a green stem or the ghost the proper shade of white.

Read on for two recipes prime for the task, with little twists that make these treats thrive.

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Nothing about these blondies makes them particularly special for the Super Bowl. They're just your basic blondie recipe with the substitution of chopped Heath bars for chocolate chips. However, because they're so easy to make, can be made the night before, and are easy to serve and eat, they work for a Super Bowl party, or any party for that matter.

Heath Bar Blondies
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x9 baking pan. (You can use an 8x8; the blondies will just be slightly taller.)

Into a large mixing bowl, sift together: 1 c. all-purpose flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp salt.

In a large bowl, beat together 1 c brown sugar with 1 stick melted butter. Add 1 large egg and ¼ tsp vanilla.

Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture along with 1 c. coarsely chopped Heath bars. (Add nuts if you feel so inspired, but don't tell me about it. I hate nuts in cookies and brownies). Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool (if you have the patience) before cutting into squares.

Few and far between are the people who don't like blondies at all. They have the thick chewiness that is usually associated with brownies, but are more substantial and often more satisfying. This batch of Toffee Crunch Blondies, baked by The Canadian Baker, looks to be even more satisfying than the average blondie because it incorporated chopped up Skor Bars into the blondie batter. The Skor bars melt into the blondies as they bake, creating little pockets of buttery toffee/caramel and chocolate, a nice change from the plain chocolate chips that are so often used in blondies. Alternatives to Skor include Daim, which you can usually find at Ikea stores or other importers and can be used in cakes and cookies, as well as in blondies, and chopped up Heath bars, which will add a similar flavor. The recipe for these blondies can be found here.

Blondies are bar cookies that are intended to have the same dense, somewhat fudgy texture of brownies, but without having a chocolate base and believe it or not, this is actually a Chocolate Chip Blondie, not a brownie. The reason that it looks so chocolaty is that mini chocolate chips were stirred into the batter in place of larger chocolate chips and, during baking, they melted right in. I doubt anyone complained before digging in, though.

This batch of blondies was baked by Vegan Core and it is completely vegan. She used a recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen for the basic blondies, then added a topping of cashews and chocolate ganache to make them a little bit more visually interesting and to add some crunch.

I love brownies, no doubt, but I certainly wouldn't kick a blondie out of bed for leaving a mess of crumbs!

Because they are bar cookies, they require a little less effort than your standard drop chocolate chip cookie. But don't be fooled, a blondie is not merely a chocolate chip cookie batter spread into a pan.