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:
Jeremy M.
{Clap}{Clap{Clap}{Clap} Standing ovation! One of the very few recipes I wouldn’t change a single thing! Rousing compliments from my co-workers. Incredibly delicious! Thank you!
Karen
I want to recreate the blinders sold at my local Blue Bottle Coffee. They are baked in small rectangular moulds about 3”x1”x1” with flakes of sea salt on top. Would you sprinkle the salt flakes before or after baking? Any suggestions on oven temp and bake time modifications for baking in silicone financier moulds? Thanks.
Sam
Hi Karen! I would top with sea salt after baking. I’m not sure on a bake time in a silicone mold but the temperature would remain the same. 🙂
Theresa
delicious!! Always butterscotch chips in Blondie brownies is how I remember growing up; that’s what I added. Thanks much!
Robin Smith
Loved this recipe! I added more white chocolate chips and a little less nuts, and greasing the pan with PAM worked out just fine. I used a pyrex dish and it took 25 minutes baking time. I used fresh flour as well….on first attempt my flour was old and lumpy, so I overworked the batter to get the lumps out. I will make this again! Thanks.
Katie
Slammin’! Made today with half chocolate chips and half salted caramel chips (Trader Joe’s). Was too lazy to do cookies and thrilled to find this recipe. Will post on instagram for you also!
Cathy L
An Obesity Connect commercial playing above your recipe is a real turn off to make a high calorie holiday treat. I guess you don’t get to choose your commercial. Lucky I’m making them for someone else.
Melissa
This is a great blondie recipe! I added some cinnamon chips and a drizzle of cinnamon glaze and they were out of this world! This blondie recipe has a better structure and not nearly as gooey and hard to cut as the King Authur recipe I’ve been using for years. Will make these again and again!
Katherine
I just tried the batch I made this morning and the texture is perfect! This is exactly what I was looking for and was really worried about wasting ingredients again after trying a disappointing recipe this past weekend. I baked this in a bronze-colored 9×13 pan for 25 minutes. I lightly greased and floured the pan, like she says, instead of using parchment paper and they came out very easily. Pro tip I learned from the internet earlier this year: cut brownies/blondies with a plastic utensil and they won’t stick! Game changer. I mixed in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chunks, and a 1/2 cup of mini semisweet ‘cos it’s what I had on hand and it was delicious! I will be remaking these to take to Thanksgiving. 🙂
Janice
Has anyone used a gluten free flour in this recipe?
Sam
Hi Janice! I have not personally tried it, but I have had others report success using a 1 for 1 gluten free flour. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Julie
Just made this today and it tastes amazing!!! I wanted to ask if we could freeze these, how to freeze, and how long it can last in the freezer? Thank you for this yummy recipe!!!
Sam
Hi Julie! You can freeze these. They will be good for several months once frozen. 🙂
VICTORIA
Easy & delicious. Furthermore, she listed the ingredients & their amounrs needed for each step, underneath the step. I found this to be very handy, and kept me from scrolling up and down to double check the ingrediens. I’ve never seen anyone else to do this, so kudos to Sam!
Sheila
100% agree Victoria!!! this made the recipe so much easier for me to follow. Thanks Sam!!!
Lara
Hi, can I use only caster sugar, because in my country we do not have brown sugar packed, only normal brown sugar, dry, and how would be the correct quantity? Thanks.
Sam
Hi Lara! I haven’t personally tried it but I think it could work. I would think you would want to use the same amount, but I’m not overly familiar with using it. 🙂
Kasey
can I use a 14×9 pan with this recipe and will the baking time change? I want to use this recipe for Thanksgiving
Sam
Hi Kasey! That should be just fine, the bake time will be reduced though (I’d start checking at 20 minutes, though they might not be done quite that soon).
Karen
Brown sugar ‘packed’ means gently pressing down the brown sugar into the measuring cup. It is not a special kind of brown sugar. So you can just use ‘normal’ brown sugar by weight for a more accurate measurement since how firmly one packs/press down in the brown sugar varies. Caster sugar is white sugar, so it will not have the same taste as brown sugar.
Rosh
Hi, Sam,
Thanks for posting this recipe, can’t wait to make it! Just one question, is the cornstarch a must or can I make do without it?
Thanks again 😊
Sam
Hi Rosh! I HIGHLY recommend it as it’s a key ingredient to make these soft and chewy. If you do omit it you would need to replace it with flour just know that it will change the texture a bit.
Cindy Vaughn
I haven’t made them yet but by looking at the recipe I know they will be delicious!
Marilyn Bowman
I work at an orchard that cooks homemade food for the employees. I have made these brownies several times and they are amazing. The pan comes back empty!
Kelly
I’m making these for about the 50th time right now. My family adores them. I have found to get even more adulation, I dump a bag of chocolate chips on top, cover with foil long enough to melt the chips, then spread evenly like a frosting. Life will be good today-smile:)
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Kelly! 🙂
Cynthia
I’ve made this recipe a handful of times and I love it! I do half dark brown and half light brown sugar as suggested and it’s perfect! I tried it with macadamia nuts but I feel walnuts are best for this recipe. Even my friends who doesn’t like walnuts loves these blondies.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoys them so much, Cynthia! 🙂
Emily
Are there measurements for 8×8 instead of 13×9?
Sam
Hi Emily! Unfortunately I do not have them. You would need to cut the recipe by a little less than half so the math could get a bit tricky.