Artificial intelligence can assist with almost anything…including the creation of delicious recipes. As a passionate foodie who is also a technologist working in national security, I absolutely had to experiment with OpenAI and recipes, and it opened a whole lot of…shall we say food for thought.
I use AI for tons of things in my life. I use AI apps to help me figure out what to do about the Florida bugs that just can’t freaking stay out of my plants, I use the ever present Amazon creation whose name I can’t say to make sure our lights turn on and off at proper times and to play soothing music for the dog when he’s convinced the neighbor’s dog is going to come into our yard and pee on HIS grass, and I use ChatGPT for a lot of things. I ask it to give me a summary of current military childcare policies and point out conflicting portions and citations, for a job description for a director of social media, to outline a docuseries I’m working on about our Soldier innovators, to create Pixar style illustrations of our family just for fun, and to help me plan an upcoming roadtrip with stops appropriate for two adults, a kid, and a dog.
It was only a matter of time before I started asking it the question that plagues every busy parent – hey, ChatGPT, what kind of dinner can I make from leftover oven-fried chicken, homemade pasta sauce, and bowtie pasta?
I actually got a pretty darn good answer.
I have a recipe that is pretty similar to this – you can check out my Chicken Parmesan Pasta Casserole here!Â
But still…pretty handy.
And pretty soon, it became, “Hey, ChatGPT, please suggest some good recipes for July including fresh produce likely to be found in Florida,” and “Hey, ChatGPT, what is the actual history of deviled eggs?” and “Hey, ChatGPT, can you help me make a Brussel Sprouts recipe with bacon and balsamic and seasoning that will appeal even to avid haters of Brussel Sprouts?” Okay, forgive that last one. I love them, my family doesn’t. I had to try.
I started to wonder how it would do suggesting a recipe, and whether that recipe would have all the right ingredients, the right instructions, the right level of detail. I started experimenting, and one of my early experiments was actually in response to a craving for blondies.
I love blondies. They’re basically brownies but made with vanilla and brown sugar instead of cocoa, giving them a nice sweet flavor that’s richer than a cookie, like butterscotch. And you can add all kinds of goodness to them, like chocolate chips, chopped pecans, and toffee bits.
My favorites are basically chocolate chip cookies in bar form, though. And I’ve been meaning to work on a recipe for them for a while, so I asked good old ChatGPT to help me come up with a good blondie recipe.
The results were…really, really good.
Check ’em out. All the cookie flavors and the cakey soft consistency you want in a blondie, nice and golden brown on top and soft in the inside and…yeah, they’re delicious.
They could use a little to liven them up. If I make these again, I’ll sprinkle on some sea salt or add in those toffee bits. But considering that this was an impulse bake where I literally turned to ChatGPT for the recipe, it was pretty darn good.
So…what does that mean for all of us in food-blog land? If we’re out here blogging, in my case for a hobby but in some people’s cases for their livelihood, if AI can return a decent recipe instantaneously with no need to Google and check ratings?
Think about why people still buy cookbooks.
Why would you buy a cookbook when you can find whatever you want for free online at the end of a Google search?
My guess is that you want the story. Chances are, you’re reading a cookbook from the Barefoot Contessa or Smitten Kitchen or Half-Baked Harvest or Joy the Baker or any of the other folks we love to follow for great recipes and great stories, and you can get them all in one place, pretty much with that person’s guarantee that you’re going to like what they put in there as much as you like what they post online.
There’s connection there as well. A connection with how that cook cooks. Food blogs often share practical tricks of the trade and secrets learned, things that make your recipe pop or, as in the case of my experiments with Chicken + Waffles, finally learning the proper way to dredge and fry chicken.
And there’s the individual culinary creativity. The little extra bits. The knowledge that you might have a truly excellent blondie recipe but it still needs some sea salt flakes or some toffee to truly pop.
There’s an element of trust in that personal connection that keeps you going to the same bloggers, that keeps you buying cookbooks from the trusted source, and that will make you fact-check the hell out of your AI.
I can’t say food blogging is safe. ChatGPT is a new competitor in town. But I can say I will still be following the lead of all the folks I mentioned when I need inspiration, when I need to know what ingredients will pair, when I need to know what new flavors to combine, or what creates the perfect comfortable meal at home or meal to share with family.
Even if ChatGPT has good answers, it needs the right questions, the right prompts from a very human audience. You’ve got to get your ideas somewhere.
Just some food for thought.
And now let’s talk about these blondies. ChatGPT’s recipe was great. It offered more brown sugar and less flour than I was used to, and that really gave me the flavor I was looking for in these blondies. But I really wanted that extra little bit of oomph in the recipe that you get from a little sea salt or some caramel or some toffee or any of the little add-ins that give dessert bars real personality.
Guess that’s the difference, isn’t it? Enjoy!
Chocolate Chip ChatGPT Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 each eggs large
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans optional
- 1/2 cup chopped toffee optional
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper or lightly grease it with butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips and nuts (if using) until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading it out evenly with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the blondies are golden brown on the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper (if used) and cut them into squares.
