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!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
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:
pau
hi! i don’t understand why first you said we can use half and hald.. and then you put an adittional cup of white sugar.. can it be ALL black sugar? the 1 and 1/4 and 1 cup can be both black sugar?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Pau! I am sorry I am not certain what you mean. If you are referring to the use of brown and white sugar, I use both to give the recipe to the perfect depth of flavor. Brown sugar makes baked goods more moist than white sugar because of the molasses content. The combination of the two is ideal for this recipe. I hope that helps answer your question.
Tp
Can you use self rising flour
Sugar Spun Run
Unfortunately, no. I do not reccomend it.
Cakeful
Made this blondies today and the taste great… but next time a make the 1/2 a cup of sugar will be left out and use half the salt. It was a bit to sweet but they came out great, thanks for the recipe…
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for trying my recipe. I am glad that you enjoyed them. 🙂
J
Hey my Blondies came out airy instead of thick and creamy. Do you know why?
Sam
Hmm, by chance could the flour have been accidentally overmeasured? Here is a guide on how to measure flour that might be helpful, because unfortunately it’s very easy to accidentally over-measure.
Cakeful
Hi, those blondies look good, trying out this recipe now let’s ssee how it turns out.
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that they turn out well and that you enjoy them! 🙂
Colleen
This recipe looks amazing, I can’t wait to try! Unfortunately, during this craze, I’m a little low on ingredients… if I’m halving the recipe, what should I do about that half a yolk? Can I leave it out and lessen the amount of flour or.. not add cornstarch or…? Thanks for any advice you can give!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Colleen! It is certainly difficult to find ingredients these days. In regards to halving the recipe, I have never done this before but my best guess would be to leave out the yolk, lesson the amount of flour (only by a little) and keep the cornstarch (half amount). You will need to eyeball batter consistency being careful when you measure your flour not to add too much. Here is a helpful guide that you can use as a reference. Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Colleen
Thanks so much! Turns out I didn’t have cornstarch 😭 so I left out the yolk and only used 1c. flour…maybe that was a little too little 😉 or maybe the cornstarch would’ve helped set everything up better but I’m pleased with the results: It definitely needed the full 30m of baking time and I had to let it cool completely before slicing but OMG sooooo good!! Thank you again for this beautiful recipe, I can’t wait to make the full amount someday (especially since these are disappearing FAST!)
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that they turned out well, Colleen! Thank you for trying my recipe! Enjoy! 🙂
Robyn Markley
These blondes are amazing! There is just one thing, there is a tangy taste i get in like every other bite or so. Its not lemony or too salty just a tang??? I just mentioned it to my husband just now and he was getting the same tangy taste. So weird, i keep going over the recipe trying to figure out what would cause a little burst of tang here and there. I am making them again today for a friend so we will see. I used only 1 teaspoon of corn starch, which was my only change except regular Ghariedellli chocolate chips which I use for all of my chocolate. Do you have any thoughts on what could cause the tangy flavor?
Sam
Hi Robyn! I’m glad you enjoyed them overall, and I’m sorry you are getting that taste. My best guess here would be the baking powder. I have found that using a generic baking powder gives me a metallic taste in my baked goods so I only ever use name brand baking powder. Also if your baking powder has ever gotten any moisture in it, it will cause it to go bad and that would give you this taste. I hope this helps! 🙂
Clive
Going to make these tonight 🙂
Really appreciate you putting the UK conversions (for weights, temperature and descriptions eg cornflour) as saves so much hassle…!
Fingers crossed they’re as tasty as they sound…!
Sugar Spun Run
You are welcome. I am glad that you find the measurements helpful. I am excited for you to try this recipe, Clive! Fingers crossed that they turn out perfectly for you. 🙂
Isra Imroz
Can I use raw sugar instead of brown sugar?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Isra! I have not tried it with this recipe personally however, you can trade raw sugars for brown sugar in an even proportion without noticing much difference in most recipes. I would love to know how it turns out for you if you try it. 🙂
Carolyn
Really like this recipe, I substituted the chocolate with maraschino cherries cut into small bits.. Also crushed roasted unsalted peanuts, for texture.
I did use 1 stick 1/4 c unsalted butter and the balance with coconut oil..
Using coconut oil in most of my cooking, healthy choice for me.
Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for sharing, Carolyn! I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Barbara Johnson
This is by far the best blondie recipe I’ve ever made! I substituted the white chocolate chips and walnuts for semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans. They came out delicious!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Barbara! Thanks for trying my recipe! 🙂
Leila
Can’t wait to try this recipe, and the bonus puppy pics are precious! However, I only have a round tin, or an oval glass pan, would one of these be ok to use?
Sugar Spun Run
Puppy pics make everything better, right Leila? I am excited for you to try this recipe. You can use either pan that you have on hand. What size are your pans? This recipe makes enough to fill one 13×9 pan. Depending on the size of your pans will determine if you need to cut this recipe in half or not. Please keep in mind that the baking time will be different than what is listed as well. 🙂
Jon
Baking is always better if you measure your ingredients out by weight and pay specific attention to detail in the recipe. It will turn out perfect every time. I made these yesterday and they turned out perfect! My kids are them all and today I’ll he making them again! Baking time plays a role as well.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for sharing, Jon! I am so glad that your family enjoyed this recipe and they turned out perfectly for you! 🙂
kim c
i am a widower and a senior, so i may not have a lot of experience baking! what i do have is a lot of experience eating! one word: YUMMY!! easy to do, even for an old codger. i used butterscotch chips, because that was what i had on hand. pretty sure they won’t last 24 hours…..
i also foster rescue dogs. keeps me busy and out of trouble.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Kim. I am so glad that you found it easy to follow and delicious. Fostering dogs keeps you busy for sure and adds a little more joy to each day. Thanks again and thank you for commenting. 🙂
Paula
Super chewy and delish!!! The perfect blondie.
I used macadamia nuts instead of walnuts and they still turned out good. I will use this recipe often. Thank You!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Paula! Macadamia nuts were a great choice too. Thank you for trying my recipe. 🙂
Cynthia
This was just cake. Our batters looked exactly the same and behaved exactly the same (even cooked for the exact amount of time) but this isn’t a blondie. It’s too fluffy and cakey, it’s like a nut loaf. Can’t say I recommend this method, personally.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Cynthia! I am sorry to hear that your blondies had a cake-like texture. They should be soft/fudge-like. Given your results, I am wondering if you may have over measured your flour. This is a common mistake in baking so I have created a guide that can be used as a reference for later. Regardless, I am sorry that this recipe was disappointing to you. I appreciate your feedback. 🙂
Cynthia
I’ll have a look! I tend to always level my measuring cups, the only thing I can think of that’s maybe a little funky is that I used specific traditional Italian flour. I’ve never had a problem making (literal) fudge or brownies with it, and it doesn’t have any chemical additives to it (i.e baking soda etc). I’ll have to try the recipe again at some point (perhaps with cake flour?)
Sugar Spun Run
That could be it, Cynthia! Again, I am so sorry. Hopefully, the next time you try it they turn out perfectly!