Brown Butter Blondies

Brown Butter Brownie Ingredients

You only need 8 pantry staples to put together these soft and chewy blondies:

• Unsalted butter – Melted and browned for a nutty, toasty flavor. It’s what makes these blondies so special.
• Light brown sugar – Adds moisture and caramel notes while making them chewy and fudgy.
• Eggs – Give the blondies richness and structure.
• Vanilla extract – Enhances the flavors of the brown butter and brown sugar.
• All-purpose flour – Gives the bars their necessary structure, but just enough is added to keep the blondies chewy, just like we want them.
• Baking powder – A small amount helps the blondies puff slightly.
• Kosher salt – Balances the sweetness and amps up the brown butter flavor.
• White chocolate chips – Stirred in at the end for some sweet and creamy pieces in each square. These can be left out if you don’t love white chocolate.

The full amount of each ingredient can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Brown Butter Blondies

There are 4 steps to making brown butter blondies:

Step 1: Brown the butter – In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally until the butter foams, the bubbles quiet down, golden-brown bits form on the bottom, and it smells toasty and nutty. Pour the browned butter (including all the brown bits) into a mixing bowl and let it cool slightly.

Step 2: Mix wet ingredients – Add the brown sugar to the warm brown butter and whisk until combined, breaking up any sugar lumps. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract until smooth.

Step 3: Fold in the dry ingredients – Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the wet mixture. Gently fold just until most of the flour is incorporated, leaving a few light streaks. Stir in the white chocolate chips, folding just until they are evenly distributed. Scrape the batter into a greased 9 x 9-inch baking pan.

Step 4: Bake – Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 35-40 minutes until the edges are set and golden, the top is crinkly, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let the blondies sit for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

Recipe Tips

• Watch the butter closely – Brown butter goes from perfect to burnt quickly. Once it smells nutty and you see golden brown bits, pull it off the heat and pour it into a bowl so it doesn’t continue cooking.
• Let the brown butter cool slightly – If the butter is too hot, it’s possible to scramble the eggs. So aim for warm, not hot brown butter.
• Do not overmix the flour – Fold the dry ingredients in gently and stop as soon as the flour is mostly incorporated. A few streaks still remaining is what you want, because it means you aren’t overdeveloping the gluten.
• Customize your mix-ins – Swap some or all of the white chocolate chips for anything else you think would be good in these blondies: toasted nuts, dark chocolate chips, or even butterscotch chips. The brown butter base works with all kinds of add-ins.
• Chill for ultra–clean slices – If you want perfectly neat squares, chill the baked blondies until firm, slice with a sharp knife, then let them come back to room temperature before serving.

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