Brown Butter Blondies

Chewy brown butter blondies pair the nutty flavor of brown butter with brown sugar and butterscotch chips for a simple blondie recipe that you’ll want to make over and over again.

I am really on a big brown butter kick right now.

Even though it might not be a “traditional” fall ingredient like pumpkin or maple, it goes really well with both of those things. Just give my brown butter rice krispie treats or brown butter pumpkin bread a try and see what I mean.

But brown butter is so good, it really stands on its own, too, making it a great flavor base for cookies (such as brown butter chocolate chip cookies) and these brown butter blondies.

These blondies are chewy, a little bit nutty from the brown butter, have a rich sweetness from the brown sugar, and are easy to adapt using your favorite mix-ins!

Oh, and you can make them, start to finish, in under an hour. What a win.

WHAT ARE BLONDIES?

Blondies are bar desserts, just like brownies. But instead of being flavored with chocolate, they are flavored with vanilla. They also contain brown sugar, which helps make them chewy.

And just like brownies, blondies can be flavored in all sorts of ways! Just like how I’ve made salted caramel brownies, pumpkin brownies, and Snickers brownies, I’ve also made chocolate chip blondies, salted caramel blondies, and maple walnut blondies. 

And now we can add brown butter blondies to that list!

HOW TO MAKE BROWN BUTTER BLONDIES

Just like brownies, blondies are pretty simple to make. And these brown butter blondies are no exception!

Key ingredients

There are a couple of key ingredients that really make these blondies super flavorful and give them their chewy texture:

Brown butter: Based on the name, you probably already figured out that brown butter is a pretty big part of this recipe. There is a lot of butter in these blondies, but I promise they don’t feel or taste too buttery when they’re baked. 

Brown butter has a lovely nutty flavor and makes these blondies taste incredible. If you’ve never browned butter before, I have a whole post that talks about what it is and teaches you how to brown butter.

Brown sugar: Brown sugar is one of the most important blondie ingredients. Not only does it add sweetness, but the molasses in the brown sugar adds flavor, and brown sugar makes the bars super chewy.

If you start baking and realize you’re low on brown sugar, don’t stress! I have a brown sugar substitute that’s easy to make.

Butterscotch chips: I like tossing a cup of butterscotch chips into these blondies. The brown sugar and butter flavor of butterscotch chips goes super well with the brown butter and the brown sugar in these bars.

If you don’t have or don’t like butterscotch chips, I have some more mix-in ideas under “Mix-in Options” below.

Other ingredients you will need include:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Making this recipe

Start by browning the butter, then pour it into a mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and let it cool for a bit before proceeding with the recipe. You can let it cool to room temperature if you have time, but even letting it cool for 5-10 minutes is good!

Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set this mixture aside.

Use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer or an electric mixer to mix the sugar with the cooled brown butter. 

Add in the eggs and mix for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture is fluffy and has lightened in color. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Add in the vanilla, then mix in the flour on low speed just until the batter comes together.

Use a spatula to fold in the butterscotch chips or other mix-ins and spread the batter into a parchment-lined 13×9-inch pan.

These blondies will bake for 35-40 minutes. If you insert a toothpick into the center, it should have some moist crumbs clinging to it but should not have raw batter on it. 

You want to err on the side of underbaking these, not overbaking them!

Let the blondies cool completely, then remove them from the pan and cut into bars.

MIX-IN OPTIONS

Butterscotch chips are always my first choice of mix-in when making brown butter blondies, but there are so many other options you could use as well!

Try swapping the 1 cup of butterscotch chips for 1 cup of any of the following:

• Chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
• Toffee chips
• Chocolate chips
• White chocolate chips
• Caramel baking chips
• Chopped pretzels

STORAGE

Store your brown butter blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze the blondies. I recommend wrapping the cut blondies in plastic wrap, then storing them in an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag. 

When you want a blondie, you can take out as many as you like and either let them thaw at room temperature or microwave them for 30-60 seconds.

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Brown Butter Blondies

By: Jamie

4.34 from 6 ratings

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 35 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 20

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Chewy brown butter blondies pair the nutty flavor of brown butter with brown sugar and butterscotch chips for a simple blondie recipe that you’ll want to make over and over again.

Equipment

• Pre-Cut Parchment Paper Baking Sheets
• Nordic Ware Metal 9×13 Covered Cake Pan

Ingredients

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter 2 1/2 sticks
• ▢ 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ▢ 2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs
• ▢ 2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper; set aside.
• In a saucepan over medium heat, brown the butter. (Instructions for how to brown butter.) Remove from heat and pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Let cool.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Attach the bowl with the brown butter to the mixer. Add the sugars. Using the paddle attachment, mix to combine.
• Add the eggs. Beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla; beat to combine. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.
• Fold in the butterscotch chips and spread the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. A few moist crumbs are fine (and desired), but the toothpick should not have any raw batter on it. DO NOT OVERBAKE.
• Set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before removing the blondies from the pan. Remove the parchment paper and cut into squares to serve.

Video

Notes

Feel free to get creative with the mix-ins. For example, add some chopped pecans or walnuts, or swap the butterscotch chips for toffee chips, chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips.

Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Helpful resources:

• Ran out of brown sugar? Whip up a simple brown sugar substitute.
• Brown sugar hardened? Learn how to soften brown sugar.
• Make sure you know how to measure flour correctly.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Nutrition

Serving: 1blondie bar, Calories: 300kcal, Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 56mg, Sodium: 257mg, Potassium: 58mg, Fiber: 0.4g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 399IU, Calcium: 46mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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