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This is the ONLY Blondies Recipe you need! These easy blondies are fudgy cookie bars full of your favorite candy or chocolate chips. I’ve been making this recipe in different ways for YEARS and it’s the best.
What is a blondie?
Besides being one of my favorite desserts, a blondie is a fudgy baked bar reminiscent of a brownie without the chocolate. (You’ll often hear them called “blonde brownies” for this reason.) They’re crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside and are better than any cookie, and easier to make too.
This basic recipe is the BEST blondies recipe you’ll ever make. It’s chewy and soft, stays soft for days, and is great with any candy or even plain! Learn how to make blondies and you will be so happy!
One of the things I love about this blondie recipe is how chewy AND soft they are. They stay soft for days and are a great blank canvas for your favorite flavors. Everyone RAVES about this recipe!
Ingredients Needed
- Brown Sugar – I think the main reason the texture of this blondies recipe is so great is because of all the brown sugar in them. There are 2 cups of packed brown sugar in this recipe! 2 cups sugar to 1/2 cup butter, which seems like a lot, but creates the best ever texture and flavor. Brown sugar gives so much flavor and texture to baked goods. I use light brown sugar but you can also use dark brown sugar (no granulated sugar).
- Eggs: 2 eggs in the batter make it a looser dough, allowing the end product to be gooey. But the egg yolks lend to a chewy texture.
- Baking Powder: instead of using baking soda these blondies use baking powder which helps keep them soft.
- Mix-ins: this is where it gets fun! You can add any kind of mix-ins you like (see my list below) or you can leave them plain.
How to make this blondies recipe
- Cream the softened, room temperature unsalted butter and sugar in a large bowl until crumbly.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth.
- Mix in the all purpose flour.
- Decide on what mix-ins you want to add or leave them plain. Press cookie dough into pan.
- Bake these in a metal 9×13-inch baking pan until they just lose their glossy sheen and are lightly golden around the edges. They’re better under-done!
Expert Tips
- Use real butter, not oil or fake butter. The flavor of butter is a must!
- The dough is wet, so spray your hands with cooking spray to press them into the pan. Same goes if you press it with a rubber spatula.
- I highly recommend using a metal pan for this blondie recipe. They might not set properly or bake properly in a glass or porcelain pan.
- This recipe has been tested with a foil lined pan and parchment paper lined pan – both worked just fine.
- These are best under baked so they finish setting as they cool. Take them out when the edges are light golden brown and the top JUST looks done (no longer glossy). Baking times will vary depending on your pan and your oven.
Storage
These stay fresh for at least a week in an airtight container because of all that brown sugar! You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
FAQ
They will be cooked through but they’ll be fudgy looking.
It’s best to err on the side of under-baked with these. As soon as the edges look golden and the top just loses the glossy sheen they’re done. They’ll still be a bit jiggly in the center when you take them out – they’ll finish setting while they cool.
A Brownie is rich and fudgy and all chocolate, whereas a Blondie isn’t chocolate. A blondie isn’t just a cookie bar, it’s a different recipe than a traditional cookie and is rich and fudgy without all the chocolate.
Best Blondies Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups (400g) packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups (242g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups mix-ins: toffee, chopped candy bars, M&Ms, chocolate chips, nuts, etc
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13” pan with foil and spray well with cooking spray.
- Mix butter and brown sugar with a stand or a hand mixer until crumbly. Mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Mix in salt, baking powder, then flour. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the mix-ins.
- Spread in prepared pan. The mixture is wet so it’s best to spray your hands with cooking spray and then smooth the dough with your hands to get an even layer. Top with remaining mix-ins
- Bake for about 22-25 minutes until they start to turn golden. Err on the side of under baked with these – they’ll finish baking as the cool and you don’t want them over baked.
Recipe Notes
- Use real butter, not oil or fake butter. The flavor of butter is a must!
- BROWN SUGAR, as before mentioned. Use 2 full cups, packed!
- The dough is wet, so spray your hands with cooking spray to press them into the pan.
- I highly recommend using a metal pan for these. They might not set properly or bake properly in a glass or porcelain pan.
- These are best under baked so they finish setting as they cool. Take them out when the edges JUST look done.
What do you get when you put 2 cups of packed brown sugar in a blondie recipe? An overly sweet blondie, in my opinion. Yes the chewy texture is nice but once I added chocolate chips as my ‘add in’ I felt like it was pretty much just a chocolate chip bar cookie. . And yes, an overly sweet one at that. I’ll keep looking for my perfect blondie . . PS I set my timer for 15 minutes, turned the oven off at that point and gave them 3 additional minutes in the hot oven and they came out just right texture /doneness wise.
Does the butter and eggs need to be at room temperature?
Butter yes, eggs it doesn’t matter.
Made these and used walnuts and dried cherries. Can’t tell you how wonderful this recipe turn out. The blondies are soft and chewy-very hard to achieve. Normally I take goodies to my neighbors to share since I am single. For the first time, I kept them all and ate the whole pan. They stayed fresh in my refrigerator.
I love your recipes. I have cooked the blondie bars but didn’t think about adding all the different variations. Thank you so much. Looking forward to trying the different varieties.
Excellent I made them twice this week !
Your recipe calls for a tablespoon of vanilla. Is that correct?
You can use a teaspoon – I used to do tablespoon because I really like vanilla but I’ve been updating old recipes and haven’t gotten to this one. Once the price of vanilla skyrocketed I started using a teaspoon ha!
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