The BEST blondie recipe lives up to its name! This recipe yields buttery soft cookie bars with vanilla-caramel undertones. It come together quickly, no mixer needed. Include your favorite add-ins (white chocolate, dark chocolate, nuts) or enjoy plain! This carefully tested recipe has been a fan favorite for years and has garnered hundreds of five-star reviews! ⭐️
Actually *Perfect* Blondies
Buttery, soft, chewy, loaded with your favorite add-ins, my blondie recipe is perfectly decadent. With hints of butterscotch, vanilla, and caramel, you won’t miss the chocolate. Serve slightly warm, topped with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce for a truly indulgent experience.
I spent a great deal of time developing this blondie recipe (you can’t imagine how many batches of not-quite-perfect blondies I had to eat, it’s a tough life 😉) and I finally have the perfect version to share. My recipe includes lots of tips and tricks so you’ll get perfectly soft, chewy and buttery results every time. No dry or cakey blondies here! Let’s get right to it.
Blondie Ingredients
We don’t need to cover everything, but let’s chat a moment about some of our key players:
- Butter. Melted butter is the key to a softer, chewier blondie recipe that stays soft and chewy (it’s also a key ingredient in my best chocolate chip cookie recipe, if you’ve tried that you already know what a game changer it is).
- Sugar. A blend of brown and granulated sugar works best here. The higher ratio of brown sugar works well to impart a deep, rich, and subtly caramel-y flavor that makes these irresistible.
- Eggs. An extra egg yolk contributes to the tender, dense texture of the bar.
- Baking powder. Blondies ought to be dense and leaning toward fudgy territory, but just a pinch of baking powder adds a bit of lightness to the bar so it’s not too dense or difficult to chew. Note that the omission of baking soda is intentional, baking soda would create a lighter airier, and more cakey texture that we’re actively trying to avoid.
- Cornstarch helps make the bars tender and chewy.
- Add-ins (use your favorites!). Truth be told, you can add nothing, no nuts, no chocolate, and you’ll still have a darn good cookie bar. But I prefer to dress things up a bit. White chocolate chips and chopped walnuts are my favorite, but swap out the white chocolate for semisweet or a chopped baking bar, swap out the nuts for a different kind of nut or more chocolate, or if you want to toast your nuts before adding them, that works just fine, too!
For the full recipe and the full measurements, scroll down to the recipe card.
How to Make Blondies
The blondie batter comes together quickly and easily. No mixer needed, no fancy equipment.
Start by melting your butter. It doesn’t need to cool completely, but if it’s still quite hot when you add the butter you can expect your blondies to be a bit greasier on the bottom after baking and to take longer to bake.
Add the sugars, eggs, yolk, and vanilla. Stir it well, but don’t go crazy. Mixing well can help create shiny/crackly tops, but over-doing it could make the blondies a bit cakier than I personally care for them to be. I never use a mixer for this step.
Add the dry ingredients. Always whisk them together separately (to make sure the baking powder and salt are well-distributed through the batter), then stir them into the batter. Once again, don’t go overboard with the mixing. Any add-ins you’re using get stirred in last.
Bake & enjoy. The very edges will turn lightly golden brown and a toothpick should come out clean. A sprinkling of flaky sea salt while they’re still warm is optional, but strongly encouraged 😉. Let the blondies cool completely before you cut into them, otherwise you may panic that you completely underbaked them (you likely didn’t).
Tips & Variations
- When it comes to sugar, a blend is best. For the brown sugar called for in the recipe, you can just use light brown sugar, but I personally prefer a blend of light and dark brown sugar. I don’t care to use all dark brown, though, as I feel it makes things a bit too rich and butterscotch-y.
- Adjust the add-ins. You can add up to 2 cups of your favorite add-ins to this blondie recipe. I listed a mix of chopped walnuts and white chocolate chips in the recipe. I found that this combination provided a nice balance of sweetness and crunch. Feel free to use all walnuts, all chocolate (completely fine to make this recipe nut-free), or swap out some or either of these. A chopped semisweet chocolate bar is quite delicious, in my opinion.
- Pay attention to your pan. A metal pan is best for this recipe and will ensure the quickest and most even baking. If you opt for a glass or ceramic pan, your blondies will almost certainly take longer to bake, and exactly how long will vary. I haven’t tried this blondie recipe in a silicone pan, but am not sure I’d recommend it.
- Brown your butter for a gourmet flavor. Brown 1 cup of butter (you do not need to brown extra to accommodate the lost liquid from browning). You will want to make sure it’s cooled a bit before adding the eggs, so the eggs don’t cook prematurely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Blondies are occasionally referred to as “blonde brownies”. They are made without cocoa powder and without melted chocolate and aspire to a rich, buttery brown-sugar-vanilla flavor rather than a deep chocolate one (so you can expect a higher ratio of brown sugar to granulated here).
White chocolate brownies are closer in nature to brownies than blondies are, while blondies are more similar to chocolate chip cookie bars.
Most often this is due to over-baking. Baking for too long or on too high of a temperature will quickly change the texture from fudgy/borderline gooey to crumbly and dry instead.
Other culprits include accidentally mis-measuring an ingredient, using the wrong kind of flour (you need all-purpose, and please do not use self-rising!), accidentally using baking soda instead of powder, or over-measuring your flour.
First, check your pan. If you used a glass, ceramic, or silicone pan the blondies will take longer to bake, and exactly how much longer can vary greatly depending on the particular material of your pan (some people have needed over 45 minutes to bake!). If you use a smaller pan, even if it’s metal, the blondies will also take longer to bake.
If you substituted or accidentally mis-measured any ingredients, this could also cause this issue.
Wait for the blondies to cool at least mostly before cutting into them, if cut into while warm they’ll look quite underbaked.
If a visual is helpful, see the video in the recipe card for exactly how this blondie recipe look in my kitchen every step of the way.
I’ve been in love with this recipe for years and am so excited for you to try it yourself. If you do, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
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Best Blondie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 ¼ cup (250 g) brown sugar firmly packed (see note)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (285 g) all-purpose flour (note that in the video I accidentally said 2 ½ cups flour, that is incorrect, you only need 2 ¼ cups as written here)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup (115 g) white chocolate chips (see note)
- 1 cup (130 g) chopped walnuts (may omit, see note)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a 13×9 metal baking pan with parchment paper (or lightly grease and flour the pan).
- Combine melted butter and sugar in a large bowl and stir well.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup (250 g) brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until completely combined. Set aside.2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.2 ¼ cups (285 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Gradually stir the dry ingredients into wet until just combined.
- Fold in white chocolate chips and nuts, if using.⅔ cup (115 g) white chocolate chips, 1 cup (130 g) chopped walnuts
- Spread blondie batter into prepared pan and transfer to oven.
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few fudgy crumbs.
- Allow to cool before cutting and enjoying
Notes
Brown sugar
I like to use half dark and half light brown sugar in this recipe for a perfectly balanced flavor with butterscotch undertones. If you don’t have both, you can use just light brown sugar.Add-ins (nuts & chocolate), and making this recipe nut-free
You can use up to 2 cups of your favorite add-ins, feel free to swap out the white chocolate chips and nuts for your favorite additions (semisweet chocolate chips, pecans, a chopped baking bar, etc.). This recipe can certainly be made nut-free, just swap the nuts for an equal amount of white chocolate chips or your preferred add-in.Pan note
A metal baking pan is recommended. Using a glass, ceramic, silicone, or other material will increase the time needed to bake, sometimes significantly. Please also note that if you opt to use a smaller pan the baking time can be expected to be longer.Storing
Cover tightly (or cut and transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 4 days. These blondies may also be sliced, tightly wrapped and frozen for several months.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
More Cookie Bars to Try:
Linda Marie
Hi Sam, a friend of mine is going through some tough stuff right now but mentioned she wanted to make herself blondies, but just didn’t have the
energy nor motivation to do it. So I decided to bless her with your recipe,
and she loved them! So did I, my husband my parents, as I made a double batch!
Thank you SO much for a delightfully melt-in-your mouth sweet treat! I will be
coming back again and again to make them!
Heather
Wow! These were so good and easy to make. I used my stand mixer to mix and left out the walnuts. I used a hose pan and they took 33 minutes to bake. They were perfection! Will make again!
Celestine
This has been the best Blondie Recipe I’ve tried hands down! In fact, I use this recipe as the base to convert it into sourdough Blondies and add spices and flavorings depending on the latest cravings (gingerbread blondies are the favorite so far). It’s never let me down and I use it at least 3 times a month. Thanks for such an excellent recipe!!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Celestine, thank you so much for trying my recipe!
Gloria
Slight crackle on the outside, fudgy and delicious in the inside! Everyone wants me to bake more of them. I used large white chocolate chips and walnuts! Thank you for this recipe which was fast and easy.
Sam
Thank you so much for letting me know how they turned out for you, Gloria, I’m so glad everyone enjoyed! ❤︎
Barb
These are absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. It took exactly 20 minutes to bake. Thank you so much for the recipe. My husband loves them too. God bless
Jade Jones
I have tried many recipes and saw this had a lot of positive reviews. I made these and had to bake for 15 minutes longer as they were very uncooked in the middle of a 10″×12″ pan. Once the pick came out clean, I took them out and rested for an hour. the majority of the blondie (other than the edges and thin layer on top) was like a gooey caramel. I tried baking a single piece for longer and it just proceeded to melt into nothing. I have a baking business and bake 3-5 times a week and never had something come out like this before. No alterations to ingredients, measurements, or temperature of my oven.
Sam
Hi Jade! Hmm, I haven’t experienced this before nor does it seem like others are running into this issue based on the comments. Did you use a glass dish? It could require longer if so. I’m also wondering if perhaps maybe the sugar could have been accidentally over-measured or the flour accidentally under-measured, especially with how you described baking the single piece and having it melt. You can see in the photos and video how they should turn out, and your experience definitely isn’t the expected outcome or one I’ve run into or seen others complain of. I hope that helps!
Kate
I’d never heard of Blondies until I heard them mentioned on a BBC baking show.
Out of curiosity, I googled for a recipe and yours popped up.
I followed your directions to the letter, added only white chocolate chips and used a glass baking dish, because I don’t have a metal one.
They are AMAZERFUL!
Both hubby and i fell in love with the first bite. Perfectly chewy, with a vanilla caramel flavor that is to die for. Hubby loves the chips, I believe they would be every bit as good without them.
Janice carter
I tried this particular recipe (with my daughter) after a failed attempt from a cooking e-book. In this Best Blondie Recipe I reduced both sugars, added 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of cloves, with 1/2 cup of walnuts blended with 1/2 cup of the all-purpose-flour my Ninja. This was then added to the rest of the flour.
I did use an electric blender for mixing the melted butter and sugar. As well as the 2 eggs and one extra egg yoke.
My kids love Butterscotch Chips, so I added them to the mix instead of Chocolate Chips.
I did use a glass 13 x 9 inch pan and it did require 3 more minutes of cooking time.
The kids absolutely “LOVE” them!
Sadia
I just made them and I love them.They r superb.My 18 year old daughter said they r yum,u must start selling them.Taste like u got it from v best bakery in town.I melted some white choc ,cream and tiny bit butter and put it on top.u must try this recipe,it’s simple ,quick and amazing.Thanks for sharing your amazing recipe of Blondies with us.
Veronica Herring
I have maple butter that I would like to use in a dessert recipe. Could I just substitute the butter in this recipe with the maple butter? Would I need to change anything else? Also, I’m leaving out the nuts due to allergies. I wonder if butterscotch chips would be better than chocolate with the maple butter. Thank you for any suggestions.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Veronica! Is your maple butter made with real butter, or is it a maple syrup spread? If it’s made with real butter it might work here, but the maple spread/maple cream will not. You can absolutely leave out the nuts and swap in the butterscotch chips though! You could always spread your maple butter on scones, waffles, or pancakes 😊
Jay
I love a blondie much better than a brownie, but my history of baking them has always resulted in dried out edges and corners. I just came across your recipe and it has such positive reviews that I’m going to give it a shot. However, I am wondering if there is a need to wrap the pan with even-bake cake strips or would that impact baking time. I use them when I make red velvet cakes and they help keep the edges from overcooking. Thanks.
Sam
Hi Jay! I have never used baking strips for this recipe so I can’t say for sure if it would change the bake time. The edges shouldn’t get dried out with this recipe. 🙂
Jenn
What a delicious recipe. My family loves it
Sue
God bless you for fostering those babies! I’ve fostered many pups and dogs and nursed them back to healthy weighs so they could be adopted. I’ve also bred dogs over the years and found it some of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Enjoy their puppyhood! It’s TOTALLY worth it, don’t you think?
Sam
They were a lot of fun. I still get updates on the one pup and I love seeing them so happy and loving life. 🙂
Debbie Drum
I had a LARGE quantity of Lindor Truffles stored in my garage refrigerator when the refrigerator died unbeknownst to us for over 24 hours. The Truffles still taste marvelous, but many of them at the bottom of the containers melted. I want to try adding some of those to your Blondie recipe. Any suggestions? Should I keep the quantity to <2 cups? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Debbie! I would just stir them in at the end and yes I think somewhere between 1 1/2 – 2 cups would be the sweet spot. I bet they will be delicious, enjoy!
sc
These smelled outstanding. I followed the recipe to a T. They came out so dry they were inedible. I don’t understand what happened. I saw another person say they were also dry. Perhaps there shouldn’t be so much flour? So disappointed. Had to throw them out.
Sam
Hi! The flour amount is correct and they definitely should be moist and chewy, not dry. I’d double check that the flour was measured properly and make sure they weren’t over-baked, that would make them dry. I also have a step-by-step video in the recipe card if that helps you to see exactly how the batter should look at each stage.
Brenda Kral
I made these and thought they were very dry and I cooked them for less time
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this, Brenda! Did you make any substitutions/additions? It sounds like there was potentially a bit too much flour in the dough. 🙁
Ray
This was a hit at thanksgiving and was quick and easy to make. Instead of folding in walnuts, i folded in butterscotch chips and sprinkled chopped pecans on the top. Thank you for the recipe, will definitely be a staple dessert I make!
Sean
Turned out great, very tasty – thanks! 🙂
JENNIFER JONES
So Good! We make this recipie. I use sliced almonds instead of walnuts