Easy No-Fail Blondies
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I love this extra easy and adaptable blondies recipe! The blondies taste like deep, rich buttery caramel and you won’t believe how easy they are to make. Jump to the Easy Blondies Recipe
What Are Blondies?
I’m sure you familiar with brownies, but do you know about blondies? If not, it’s time to change that. Blondies are similar to brownies, but instead of the base ingredients including cocoa powder or melted chocolate, we leave that out for more of a vanilla-based bar. Think of blondies as brownie’s alter-ego.
We’ve fallen in love with blondies. They are so easy to make — we’re pretty sure they’re one of the simplest, tastiest baked goods you can make. Not only that, but they are practically no-fail. Just a few ingredients, a bowl, and a spoon.
How to Make Blondies (You Only Need One Bowl)
This recipe makes blondies that are rich and dense with a paper-thin crinkly top. They are complex with lots of vanilla and dark brown sugar. They taste like deep, rich buttery caramel. Keep them simple or customize. Add chocolate, nuts, dried fruit — whatever.
All the magic happens in one bowl. If you’ve been following Inspired Taste for a while, you’re probably tuned in to our love of no fuss, no mess recipes. We’re terrible with staying ahead of dirty dishes. So anything “one bowl” snags major points in our book.
What You Will Need
Melted butter makes these blondies rich and delicious. I use unsalted butter when baking so that I can control the salt content. I’ve also used browned butter to make blondies with great success. Just swap browned butter for the melted butter called for in the recipe (here’s our tutorial for how to make browned butter).
Brown sugar makes the blondies taste almost like caramel. If you have it in your kitchen, use dark brown sugar. It adds even more flavor.
Egg gives structure, makes the bars tender, and helps the blondies rise a little. We don’t use any additional leavener for these, so the egg is important.
Vanilla extract and salt are essential in making the blondies taste amazing. I also love adding a little bit of almond extract.
All-purpose flour provides more structure, although we really don’t use much of it.
Making The Batter
To make the blondies, stir the brown sugar with melted butter. Add an egg and vanilla extract, and salt then stir again. When all the other ingredients are blended, add the flour. If you are adding any extra ingredients like chocolate chips, fold them in at the end.
Baking Them
The blondies bake about 25 minutes. It’s important not to overbake them. Overbaked blondies turn hard.
The blondies are ready to come out of the oven when look almost done. As they cool out of the oven, they continue to bake. So to make sure you have that moist, gooey middle, take blondies out when they edges look browned, but the middle looks a little underdone.
What Our Readers Are Saying
I told you this blondies recipe was easy. Here’s what our readers have been saying about the recipe:
“Wow, these blondies really are foolproof and so delicious.” – Karen
“These were yummy, rich, moist and buttery, caramely mouthfuls of happiness” – Gizelle
“They are the best blondies I have ever tasted. So easy and Delicious!” – Susan
More Easy Baking Recipes
Recipe updated, originally posted July 2013. Since posting this in 2013, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne
Easy No-Fail Blondies
- PREP
Blondies are one of the simplest, tastiest baked goods you can make. These blondies are perfectly dense with a paper-thin crinkly top and taste like deep, rich buttery caramel. If you have it, use dark brown sugar. Light brown sugar works, but the flavor will not be as rich. Feel free to customize this recipe to your liking — add chocolate, nuts, dried fruit or whatever else you adore. We’ve shared suggested amounts in the recipe below.
**We do not add baking soda or baking powder to these blondies. These are intended to be dense and a little fudgy. If you are looking for a risen, cake-like interior, these blondies might not be for you (see our photos and video showing how dense they are).
Makes 16 bars
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
8 tablespoons (115 grams or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (215 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
Optional Extras
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips (white, milk, semi-sweet, dark, etc.)
1/2 to 1 cup chopped and toasted nuts
1/2 to 1 cup chopped dried fruit or shredded/flaked coconut
1/4 cup liquor (bourbon, whiskey, rum, etc.) note: Increase flour by 1 tablespoon to accommodate
1/2 teaspoon flavorings or extracts (coconut, mint, rum, raspberry, etc.)
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176C). Line an 8-inch by 8-inch metal baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir melted butter and brown sugar until blended. Add the egg, vanilla, almond extract (optional) and salt then stir vigorously until smooth.
When the batter looks well blended, add the flour and stir until fully incorporated, then beat with the wooden spoon or spatula for 40 to 50 strokes. (The batter will be quite thick). Beat vigorously here. You want to see the batter pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
Fold in the chocolate chip, nuts or dried fruit (if using). Spread the batter evenly in lined pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes until the edges look browned, but the middle looks slightly underdone (the middle will continue to cook while it cools). Place the pan on a wire rack and let the blondies cool in the pan. Cut into 16 squares. Don’t be surprised if the blondies have not risen much. These are intended to be dense, rich, and a little fudgy.
Adam and Joanne’s Tips
- Store blondies covered in an airtight container up to 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the fridge. You can also freeze up to 3 months.
- FAQ – Doubling The Recipe: Use a 13-inch by 9-inch pan and watch the baking time — it will need a little longer to bake. We suggest that you start checking at 25 minutes and then check every five minutes after that. The blondies will be a little thicker.
- Some readers have had problems with the fat separating during baking. This is a common problem with baking blondies. Since the recipe calls for so much butter and so little flour, it is very important that the batter is beaten vigorously enough so that the batter emulsifies. Otherwise, you risk the fat seeping out when baking in the oven. Just after adding the flour, you should be beating for about 40 strokes until the batter becomes very thick and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If you are not strong enough to stir a heavy batter by hand, use a mixer.
- Recipe slightly adapted and inspired by Mark Bittman’s cookbook, “How to Cook Everything” and by Smitten Kitchen’s blondies recipe.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. The calculations include 1 cup of chocolate chips.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Calories 168 / Protein 2 g / Carbohydrate 22 g / Dietary Fiber 1 g / Total Sugars 15 g / Total Fat 9 g / Saturated Fat 6 g / Cholesterol 27 mg
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