Blondies

These Blondies are chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside with a sweet caramel flavor. A great simple and basic dessert that comes together quickly and easily.

We first made these basic blondies at the beginning of the Like Mother, Like Daughter blog when Aimee was asked to make a dessert for a  family reunion on her dad’s side of the family at Duck Creek Village (ie. his parents, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.) There were about 60 people total, so most of the family stayed pretty squished cozy in a lodge, but Nate and her decided to camp in their tent on the deck in the back. Craig, Aimee, Nate, and Ellen were in charge of Sunday’s lunch, and a dessert to follow.

Aimee absolutely loved having the excuse to make a new dessert (because Nate gets mad when she makes too many for just the two of them, now five). But, of course she didn’t want to take just any dessert. She needed a dessert that tasted good, lots of people would gobble right up from ages young to old, and travel well because the blondies were made a couple of days before serving. These basic blondies met all the requirements. She made three 9×13 pans and not a bite come home.

Blondies are a form of brownies but without the cocoa. We love chewy brownies that had a great crispy crunch through the crust but a soft texture also and these blondies have all those tasty characteristics. These Blondies taste almost like a caramel brownie, but again without cocoa.

How to make blondies

Start with a softened butter and whisk in 2 cups of brown sugar; you can use 1 cup light brown sugar and 1 cup dark brown sugar, or 2 cups with either light or dark brown sugar. If you use dark brown sugar, your blondies will be darker in color and a stronger caramel flavor. Next whisk together the sugar with 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla.

In another bowl, shift together 2 cups of flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold the flour/dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix just enough so there is no dry clumps. Last add your favorite chips; whether that be butterscotch, chocolate, or white chocolate chips – you can even do a mix of any of these combinations of chips. Just mix enough but it is best not to over mix the blondie batter.

You will bake the blondies in a lightly greased 9×13 pan in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Test the blondies at 30 minute to see if they are done. How to test is using a toothpick or butter knife, insert and remove, if it comes out clean not wet the blondies are finished baking. If it is wet, continue to bake for a few more minutes and test again. Don’t overbake, hard blondies are not as good as that chewy crispy blondie.

I drizzled my blondies with our favorite hot fudge sundae topping, it was extra yummy. But if you really want a dessert that will wow, scoop some vanilla or chocolate ice cream on top of the blondie and drizzle additional fudge or caramel sauce on top. You will be licking your plates clean.

Basic blondies was first posted on July 6, 2011, all pictures and recipe has been updated on February 29, 2020.