Classic Blondies

This classic blondies recipe is the ultimate convergence of a chocolate chip cookie with a brownie. With flavors of butter and vanilla, these blonde-colored bars will be a new favorite dessert to whip up. They’re made all in one bowl and feed a crowd!

Get ready for the best blondies recipe.

Ultimate fudgy brownies are the gooey chocolatey decadence that is an easy go-to. Easily overlooked is the blondie. A little secret? A blondie is a brownie without cocoa powder. The absence of cocoa may give someone reason enough to throw the idea away. Why have a brownie without cocoa? If this is your question, I think you need to understand what a good, perfect blondie should be. This blondie is simple. Easily stirred together in one bowl. The absence of cocoa is not boring or bland but instead allows the buttery vanilla flavors to shine. This blondie is rich but not dense and full of chocolate chunks and chips. Both the bar and the folded-in chocolate are able to impart flavor without overpowering one another. The result is a blondie that is as crave-able as the brownie. Two equally delicious recipes and both deserve equal playing time.

Everything you’ll need to make this recipe.

• Brown sugar will impart the desired caramel-like, creamy texture to the brownies. A small amount of molasses is added to create brown sugar, and this extra moisture also is imparted in the blondies.
• Vanilla extract brings out the buttery richness in the blondies. The better the vanilla extract, the better the flavor.
• Baking powder is not traditional in a blondie recipe, but it does add some lightness. A small amount lightens the texture.
• Chocolate chunks and chocolate chips are added for large pockets of gooey chocolate and intense flavor. Use semi-sweet or bittersweet, depending on personal preference.

Here’s how to make this recipe.

1. Melt the butter. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat on the stovetop. Once the butter has melted, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool slightly before mixing it into the rest of the ingredients.

2. Mix together wet ingredients. In a large bowl, add the eggs and whisk them until they become well combined. Add in the brown sugar and vanilla extract, and whisk those into the eggs until combined. Once whisked, add in the slightly cooled butter and mix until incorporated. At this point, the batter will be pretty thin in texture.

3. Mix together dry ingredients. To the wet ingredients, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a whisk, mix together the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. The batter will be much thicker but will still have a slight thinness to it.

4. Chop up chocolate. Chop up the bar of chocolate into roughly-sized shards. The irregular sizes and shapes will create pockets of chocolate that will be a surprise in each bite. To the batter, add the shards of chocolate and the chocolate chips, reserving a handful of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top later. Fold the chocolate into the batter, making sure not to break the chocolate down, which would discolor the batter.

5. Bake the blondies. Pour the batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish and spread out to an even layer. Sprinkle the reserved chocolate chips on top of the batter. Place the dish in the preheated 350°F oven and bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Once baked, remove the pan from the heat and let the blondies cool before slicing.

These pro tips will make this recipe a success.

• When melting the butter, make sure to melt it slowly. If melted too quickly, butter can tend to splatter and spit, which can leave burns if the liquid comes in contact with skin. Additionally, if cooked too hard, the butter can brown, which is not desired in this recipe. For best results, use medium-low heat to melt the butter.
• Make sure that any clumps of brown sugar are thoroughly broken down. If clumps are left, they’ll create pockets of brown sugar that will not be desirable once baked. If the clumps do not break down when whisking, simply let the brown sugar sit with the eggs and vanilla extract, and the liquid will soften any remaining clumps, making them easier to whisk.
• When measuring out the flour, take your measuring cup and add the flour to it with a separate scoop. Allowing the flour to lightly fall into the measuring cup rather than pushing it down into the flour with the cup will ensure that the flour is light in texture and that too much is not added.
• For the chocolate, do not add the chocolate powder that was created when chopping the chocolate into the batter. This will discolor the batter and resulting blondie.

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