The Best Blondie Recipe
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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 1/2 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)
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
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Delicious! I added cinnamon since I was out of vanilla, opted for semi-sweet chips, and baked it in a metal pie pan so it was a little thicker.
We are so happy you enjoyed them, Katie! 🩷
I don’t leave comments on recipe blogs often, though I use online recipes regularly. This recipe merits the effort of leaving a 5 star review. The texture, flavor and balance of this recipe yielded maybe the best baked treat I’ve made yet. Also, it’s very easy to make. I subbed leftover almond bark, roughly chopped, about 2/3 cup, along with the cup of crushed walnuts. The white chocolate flavor puts the whole thing over the top and made this much better than other blondies I’ve made with just nuts or no mix ins. Thanks.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment, Allie! I’m so glad they were such a hit! 🙂
This is THE Blondie recipe that I’ve been on a very long search for. Thank you! I browned the butter and used both dark and light brown sugar. I roasted some pecans in butter and salted them before chopping and adding to the batter. They were delicious! I’m going to try them without any add ins next time just to get a baseline. Thank you again for the perfect chewy Blondie recipe!
We are so happy it was such a hit for you, Diane! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🥰
Was looking for a relatively easy Blonde Brownie recipe when I stumbled across this one. Thank you google search LOL! These were delicious. I used a heaped one cup measure of 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 butterscotch chips and split the brown sugar between dark and light. My husband took one bite and said, these are a keeper. Perfection.
i just made these and even baked for an extra 10 minutes but they came out super raw looking and like honestly nauseating. it would be a good brownie texture but sickening for blondies
I’m so sorry to hear this was happening, Alex! Is your oven temperature accurate? Was it fully preheated before putting the blondies in? 🙁
I forgot to add in my previous comment that along with adding the Lindt white chocolate chunks and walnuts, I also added a cup of toffee bits to the batter. After spreading the batter in the pan I topped the batter with more toffee bits. Really added a nice flavor to these blondies.
Holy cow, Sam, this recipe is a winner! I made them today and was blown away as to how delicious these are. The texture is perfect. I browned the butter and used ½ cup light brown sugar and ½ cup dark brown sugar along with the ½ cup of granulated sugar. The ¼ cup decrease in sugar made these perfectly sweet. I added one cup of chopped up Lindt White Chocolate and 1 cup of chopped walnuts. This is going into my recipe file for future use. Thanks so much for developing this recipe for The Best Blondies. They truly are the best!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Laurie! 🙂
Is the batter supposed to be very thick? Kinda like cookie dough? I’m crossing my fingers they turn out okay. I’ve got a back up box just in case lol
Hi Jessica! This is a thick batter. You can actually see me spread it out in the video. 🙂
Very good recipe! Used m&ms instead of chocolate chips and it turned out really good 🙂
The best blondies,
Can I use salted butter for this or just unsalted?
Hi Elle! You can use salted butter you will just want to reduce the salt by 1/2 teaspoon. 🙂
Thank you!I tried it out and it worked perfectly,this recipe was a miracle!
The only blondies I have ever made and after the first couple they grew on me. Only make them a few times a year but they are so good. About to make them right now because I ave been craving them for 2 weeks at this point.
I would like to make these in mini muffin pans, to use in place of chocolate for stuffed brownies?
You could bake it in a mini muffin pan, but I’m not sure on a bake time.
I baked them in the 9×13 pan then used a couple cookie cutter to cut then out once cooked- Came out perfect
Thanks for letting us know how that worked for you, Nicole! 🩷
The white chocolate completely melted in mine and it made the whole thing super gooey so I had to bake it for longer. How do I get it with chocolate chunks in it like the picture you have?
Hi Marnie! Did they melt before baking, like when you were mixing it together? Did they melt while baking? I’ve never seen this happen. What kind of white chocolate chips were you using?
It happened while baking. First time I used chips and second time I used a bar that I chopped up. It was Ghirardelli baking chocolate.
Hmm that’s quite odd. I wish I could say I have an answer as to why it’s melting and making a mess, but I have never encountered this problem. 🙁
I made this with 1/2 light and 1/2 dark brown sugar and I browned the butter. Absolutely delicious! Unbelievable! I am not a white chocolate fan and chose not to add any mix-ins. I love nuts but was serving them to others. When I am doing them for myself, I will add pecans. I understood the corn starch. I have a recipe for cc cookies that uses cornstarch and it is wonderful. I do have a question about the leavening, I have seen some recipes with baking soda only, some with a mix and one with a lot of baking powder. What would be the difference?
I’m glad you ultimately enjoyed them, Marci! The choice of leavener is up to the author of the recipe. They will provide different results. 🙂
I think they would better with less butter and less sugar, mine ended up too greasy.
Hi Ann! Was your butter still hot when you added your sugars? This can cause the greasy result you describe 🙁
Mine did too. I baked these for my surgeon and his staff and ended up not taking them due to how greasy they were.
Hi Kelly! Was your butter still hot when you added your sugars? This can cause the greasy result you experienced. 🙁