Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Sweet with butterscotch notes and lots of chocolate deliciousness mixed in.
Texture: Thick, chewy, gooey, and rich.
Ease: Super easy! One bowl recipe with no mixer required and ready to enjoy in just 45 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: That crinkly crust studded with chocolate chips and a sprinkling of flaky salt is simply irresistible.
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This is one of my husband’s FAVORITE recipes. He requests it constantly.
I designed this recipe to be a little more thick and chewy than your average blondie, with just a touch of gooey-ness right at the center.
You’re an hour away from enjoying the butterscotch flavor of brown sugar + butter with the chewy texture of a brownie. You may already have all the ingredients on hand.
Feeling creative? You can easily omit the chocolate chips or replace them with candy, nuts, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, or anything else your heart desires.
I have several other scrumptious Blondie Recipes on my site – like my Easter Blondies made with Cadbury mini eggs, my Caramel Pecan Blondies loaded with gooeyness, or my Peanut Butter S’mores Blondies that are pure PB heaven.
But you’ll want to come back to this classic blondie recipe again and again. To the point where you may even have it memorized one day!
My tip? they’re even better with a glass of milk or a scoop of ice cream on top.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Blondies
What Is A Blondie? What is the Difference Between Blondies and Brownies?
Blondies are basically “blonde brownies.” There is no cocoa or melted chocolate in the batter of a Blondie. Instead, Blondies are made with brown sugar for a rich butterscotch flavor and plenty of vanilla extract for a wonderful vanilla flavor.
In my book, a good Blondie is gooey, chewy, and a little fudgy.
Do I Have to Use Brown Sugar?
Brown sugar is essential to a traditional blondie. You can also use dark brown sugar if you want a bolder butterscotch flavor and a bit of extra chewiness.
If you want to experiment with reducing the sugar, start with only a fifteen percent reduction to avoid making the blondies dry and cakey. Read more about the role of sugar in baking here.
The Key to Perfectly Baked Blondies: A Metal Baking Pan!
This recipe yields thick, rich blondies, so it’s important to use a pan that conducts heat effectively, like my favorite from USA Pan.
Avoid glass or ceramic pans because they will take far longer to bake. This often leads to the center being undercooked, gummy, and slightly sunken by the time the edges start to dry out.
Check out comparison below, where I baked this recipe at the same temperature for the same time in the same oven.
Though the differences weren’t quite as dramatic as with our brownie testing, you can see the glass pan blondies are more gooey and underdone in the center.
What if I Don’t Have a Metal Pan?
If you must use glass or ceramic, drop the baking temperature by about 15°F and increase the baking time by 5-10 minutes.
How to Customize Blondies
You can use any type of chocolate chip or any other mix-in that’s similar in size and shape to customize this Blondie Recipe.
Just keep the volume or weight about the same as written in the recipe. I don’t recommend adding anything wet, like fresh fruits – but here are some other ideas to customize this recipe to your personal taste:
- Milk, dark or white chocolate chips (or a mix of all three!)
- Homemade toffee bits
- Butterscotch chips
- Peanut butter chips
- Chopped, lightly toasted nuts (pecans or walnuts are my favorite!)
- Any baking chocolate or candy bar, chopped into small chunks
- M&Ms
- Dried fruit, like chopped cherries or raisins, or even dehydrated berries
How Do You Know When Blondies Are Done Baking?
I worked with recipe testers to test this recipe in four different ovens across the country. What I learned? Baking time will depend entirely on your oven AND your preferred level of doneness.
Here are a few tips for achieving your version of perfect Blondies:
- Baking time: 25 – 28 minutes was perfect for a more soft and gooey center, while 30 to 35 minutes resulted in a more firm center and more golden edges.
- Visual cues: Blondies are done baking when the middle is just slightly jiggly and shiny on top, but the edges look solidified. Be careful not to overbake or they will become dry and crumbly.
- Remember: residual heat will continue to cook the Blondies. Even if they seem just slightly underdone in the center, remove the Blondies from the oven. They’ll solidify more as they cool. Please note that it is normal if the center dips slightly after cooling, which is more likely to happen with a glass pan.
- Too gooey? Rest overnight. If your Blondies are still a little gooey for your liking after they’ve cooled, let them sit on a cooling rack overnight, lightly covered with plastic wrap. This period of time will help them solidify even more.
- Oven temperature: Also, be sure your oven is actually at the temperature it says it is. Learn more about that in my Oven 101 article, and if you don’t have an oven thermometer, now’s the time!
Blondie Baking FAQs
The extra yolk provides richness for a chewier texture – so don’t skip it! Be sure your eggs are at room temperature, and use large eggs (not medium or extra-large – your large eggs should be about 56 grams in shell).
The answer to all of these questions is likely the same simple mistake: incorrect measuring of ingredients.
If you are not measuring your ingredients with a digital kitchen scale, you could accidentally be adding too much flour, causing hard, dry, or cake-like Blondies. Learn more about how to measure ingredients correctly here!
The other reason your blondies could be turning out too dry or hard is likely that they’re overbaked. Learn how to tell when your blondies are done baking below.
A little bit, yes! Overbaked Blondies are basically a dry, hard cookie bar.
Yes! Just double all ingredients and bake it in a 9×13-inch metal baking pan and add a few minutes to the baking time.
You can store the Blondies for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge. If storing for more than a day, wait to slice into bars until you’re ready to serve to prevent stale edges.
You can also freeze Blondies (as a whole slab or sliced) for up to 3 months. Store wrapped in plastic wrap and inside an airtight container. Thaw overnight at room temperature. You can then refresh in a 325°F oven for about 5 to 10 minutes, if desired.
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 1 3/4 cups (281 grams) mix-ins of your choice, such as chocolate chips or nuts, divided
- Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 by 8-inch metal pan* with foil or parchment paper. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large microwave-safe bowl, heat the butter in 30-second increments until melted. Add the sugar to the hot butter and whisk to combine. Let cool until just warm.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and whisk vigorously until smooth. Stir in the salt, baking powder, and flour with a rubber spatula. Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) of the mix-ins.
- Evenly spread the batter into the prepared pan. Top with remaining mix-ins.
- For an ooey-gooey center, bake until the edges are lightly golden but the center still jiggles slightly, about 25 minutes. For a firmer center, bake until the edges are golden brown and the center is lightly golden and set, 30-35 minutes. Set pan on wire rack and allow to cool before cutting. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.
- Store for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge. If storing for more than a day, wait to slice into bars until you’re ready to serve to prevent stale edges.
Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2010 and updated in 2023 with new photos and recipe improvements. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Hi I made these yesterday for my sons teachers but they didn’t turn out right. The sugar was very over powering in taste and they were too gooey/not set plus very greasy despite cooking them for 30 mins. I followed the instructions to leave them on the rack and even out them in the fridge. I am not sure what I have done wrong. However when I went back to the recipe I noticed the sugar and flour both say 1 and half cups but I was following the grams. The sugar says 300g and flour 191 grams. Is that correct or should they both be the same, because they are the same in cups? just so I know for next time. Thank you
Hi Rukhsana! We definitely think you’ll enjoy these brownies more with unsweetened/bittersweet chocolate (instead of semi-sweet), as mentioned in the tip box above the recipe – so we hope you give them a try with that swap next time. As for your bake time, some ovens run cool – do you have an oven thermometer to check that? Check out Tessa’s article about ovens here. Also, did you bake these in a metal pan? Glass pans aren’t recommended for baking brownies – learn more about that here. Lastly, yes, the weights for sugar and flour are different as they weight different amounts. Measuring by weight, as you did, will always be the most accurate measurement! I hope that helps 🙂
How do I double this for a 9×13 pan? What would the measurements be then? Thank youu
Hi Laya! Yes, this recipe can easily be doubled. As Tessa mentions in the pink tip box above the recipe, “Just double all ingredients and bake it in a 9×13-inch metal baking pan and add a few minutes to the baking time.” Let us know what you think once you’ve given these blondies a try 🙂
I hardly ever post reviews for recipes I find, but these blondies came out so good I must leave a review. I followed the instructions as is — added about 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder + 120 grams of semi sweet chocolate chips and 120 grams of espresso chocolate chips. Baked for ~28 min.
When I tried these blondies after they cooled, I legit said out loud “omg” while I was alone in my kitchen. 10/10 would bake again — can’t wait to share them with friends tomorrow 🙂
I usually lean toward everything chocolate or brownies but this recipe has made me a blondie lover! So delicious and so easy to vary with different mixins, endless possibilities!
I’ve made this so many times and I love it. However, I was wondering if I could I freeze these in disposable foil baking trays prior to baking and then bake from frozen? Thanks a lot x
Hi Anna! We haven’t tried that, so we can’t say for sure sorry! Let us know if you try that. Alternatively, you can bake them and follow the freezing directions in the pink tip box (above the recipe) – they freeze super well after baking and cooling! Happy baking 🙂
Hi! If I 4x this recipe, would it bake well in a sheet pan?
Hi Rani! I can’t say for sure as we haven’t tried that, but I believe you would need a half sheet pan for quadrupling this recipe. The recipe was written for an 8×8-inch pan, and can easily be doubled for a 9×13-inch pan – but we haven’t tested any pans larger than this. Let us know how it goes if you give multiplying this recipe a try 🙂
I made a double batch for a middle school fundraiser and the kids could not get enough! I sold out very quickly. These sold faster than my cinnamon rolls and s’mores cups! I would say that Middle School student approved is about as high as marks as you could as for.
The only tricky bit I have is knowing the correct time too pull them out of my oven. I am getting better at it the more I make them. This is such a great recipe!
this recipe sounds so good!! I have a question, are blondies the same as chocolate chip cookie bars? I wanted to make the latter and stumbled on this recipe so I’m thinking of making this one instead!
Hi Sofia! There are some differences. Blondies should be gooey – like the consistency of a brownie, with the flavors of a cookie. Check out everything Tessa wrote in the pink tip box above the recipe for more info 🙂 Let us know what you think of these blondies once you’ve given them a try! Happy baking!
super simple and delicious recipe for the gooiest, most delicious blondies! i weighed all of my ingredients and used some pecans in addition to the chocolate chips for my add ins (which was amazing!) and i also used a pan slightly larger than an 8×8 and they still turned out thick and chewy and gooey! 🙂
thanks for the wonderful recipe tessa and for your super helpful post on how to make the best blondies!!
Hey! Looks absolutely delish!
Can i substitute the eggs with yogurt or or flax seeds?
TIA
Hi Jasleen! Unfortunately, we do not test our recipes with egg replacements or substitutes. Eggs bring so much structure, moisture, color, flavor, tenderization and more to baked goods, and we have not found anything that can replace the real thing. Feel free to try out different things and see what works for you. Good luck! 🙂
This looks like and tastes the same as the recipe that I made growing up starting in the 50’s. I had lost my original recipe but all the ones I have seen did not make the recipe in a pan starting with the melted butter and sugar. Thanks for bringing back great memories of this bar cookie we made several times a month.
If you don’t have unsalted butter can you use salted butter and leave out the sea salt?
Thank you, Connie
Hi Connie! Yes, that should work fine. Let us know what you think once you’ve tried these blondies! 🙂