Baking

Blondies: Brownies’ Buttery, Brown Sugar Cousin

2 min

You melt the butter for these instead of creaming it, and that single choice is why the texture lands closer to chewy than cakey. There's no cocoa here, just a full cup of brown sugar doing the heavy lifting on flavor, which gives you that caramel, almost butterscotch edge. I use a full tablespoon of vanilla, which sounds like a lot until you taste it against the white chocolate. Pull them while the center still looks barely set and the toothpick comes out with damp crumbs.

By Nora Calloway

A little backstory

Blondies grew out of the same early-American family of brown sugar bar cookies that gave us brownies, and the brown sugar base actually predates the chocolate kind. In older cookbooks a "brownie" didn't have to involve chocolate at all, which is part of why the paler brown sugar bar reads like the brownie's quieter cousin today.

Brownies get all the attention. Blondies are the unsung hero.

Chewy. Buttery. Loaded with white chocolate chips and pecans. 30 minutes. One bowl. No cocoa. All flavor.

Makes 16 bars.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1 1

Preheat and Prep

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.

2 2

Mix Wet Ingredients

Whisk melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Whisk until combined.

3 3

Add Dry Ingredients

Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined. (Don’t overmix.)

Fold in white chocolate chips and pecans.

4 4

Bake

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes until edges are golden and center is set (toothpick may have moist crumbs).

5 5

Cool and Cut

Cool completely in pan. Lift out using parchment. Cut into 16 squares.

Summary

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 20-25 minutes | Total Time: 25-30 minutes

Yield: 16 bars

Difficulty: Easy

Storage Notes

Room Temp:

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Freezer Friendly:

Freeze for 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.

Pro Tip:

Underbake slightly for chewier blondies. Overbake = dry and crumbly.

The Ingredients

Everything you need.

Prep

5 minutes

Cook

20-25 minutes

Total

25-30 minutes

Yield

16 bars

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup white chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1
Preheat and Prep. Preheat and Prep. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. 2 2
2
Mix Wet Ingredients. Mix Wet Ingredients. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla. Whisk until combined. 3 3
3
Add Dry Ingredients. Add Dry Ingredients. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined. (Don’t overmix.) Fold in white chocolate chips and pecans. 4 4
4
Bake. Bake. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until edges are golden and center is set (toothpick may have moist crumbs). 5 5
5
Cool and Cut. Cool and Cut. Cool completely in pan. Lift out using parchment. Cut into 16 squares

Swaps & Substitutions

Unsalted butter → salted works fine; just drop the added salt to a pinch so they don't taste sharp
Brown sugar → light or dark both work; dark gives a deeper molasses note, and in a pinch white sugar plus a tablespoon of molasses gets you close
White chocolate chips → swap for semisweet or butterscotch chips, or leave them out and lean on the nuts
All-purpose flour → a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend works; the bars come out slightly more tender and crumbly
Egg → a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax plus 3 tbsp water, rested 5 min) holds together, though the chew softens a bit
Pecans or walnuts → optional entirely; toast them first if you do use them, it wakes up the flavor

Questions & Answers

How do I know when they're done?

The edges should be golden and pulling away slightly, and the center should look set but not firm. A toothpick in the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter and not totally clean.

Why did mine turn out dry and crumbly?

Almost always overbaking. These keep cooking from residual heat after they leave the oven, so 20-22 minutes is usually plenty in an 8x8 pan. Pull them on the early side.

Can I make them ahead?

Yes. They actually firm up and slice cleaner the next day. Keep them covered at room temperature for up to a week, or freeze the cut bars for up to three months.

Do I have to cool them completely before cutting?

It's worth the wait. Warm blondies tear and smear; once fully cool you can lift the whole slab out by the parchment and cut clean 16 squares with one knife.

Can I double this for a 9x13 pan?

Double everything and bake in a 9x13. Start checking around 25 minutes since the larger pan and deeper batter shift the timing, and go by the same set-center, moist-crumb cue.

Blondies: Brownies’ Buttery, Brown Sugar Cousin