Blondies

These Blondies are so soft and chewy, quick and easy with NO MIXER required!  

This Blondies recipe might just be the best blondie recipe on the planet.  They are rich, soft, chewy, dense and completely customizable.   My version is speckled with butterscotch and coconut throughout then smothered with the most incredible Butterscotch Glaze and more toasted coconut and pecans on top – because we can.  If coconut and butterscotch aren’t your thing, you can leave them plain or add chocolate chips walnuts, etc. to make YOUR favorite Blondies recipe!

 

Blondie Recipe

You guys, I am so excited to bring you these Butterscotch Coconut Blondies!  I was going on and on and on about how amazing these are to my brother in NY when he said I needed to post the recipe ASAP so he could make them ASAP.  I could have emailed him the recipe, but the whole world needs these blondies ASAP, so here they are!

Why you will love this Blondie recipe.

Texture.  These blondies are sssssooo melt-in-your-mouth soft and chewy – I really just can’t get over their brown sugar delicious texture.

Customizable.  With such an amazing base, you can customize these blondies with any mix-ins of your choosing – but today we are pushing into the ridiculously delicious realm with the infusion of butterscotch chips, coconut, and pecans cocooned in every soft  brown sugar blondie bite.

Glaze.  And then their is the AH-mazing Butterscotch Glaze.  A simple simmering of butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla that glides right over the rich blondies, transforming this indulgent dessert into an impossible to resist dream.

No mixer!  And while these Butterscotch Coconut Blondies taste and look like they have taken hours to whip up, they require less than 10 minutes prep and you don’t even need a mixer, just two bowls, a microwave and a spoon!   If you can spread batter into a pan, you can make these blondie bars!

Crowd pleaser.  They are my new “go-to” dessert for any occasion and so perfect for last minute company or simply last minute, sudden cravings.

Easy transport.  Since we’ve already established these Blondies are a crowd pleaser, let me assure you they also transfer well!  Unlike frosted desserts, you can stack these bars with parcment paper in between for storing or transfering.

Freezer friendly.  This blondie recipe is freezer friendly (instructions included) so you can make ahead to enjoy at a moment’s notice later!

Please make this Blondies recipe ASAP!   I’m already excited for you!

What is the difference between a brownie and a Blondie?

Blondies are nothing short of addicting, much like a thick cookie bar however, they are softer, thicker and chewier than cookies because the edges don’t bake exposed.  They are more dense than cake and more similar to brownies in texture and therefore often called blonde brownies.

As far a the differences between brownies and blondies, brownies are chocolate flavored with either melted chocolate and/or cocoa powder, whereas blondies are flavored with brown sugar and vanilla with distinctive molasses flavor.  They both bake in a pan and emerge soft, chewy, rich, dense and delicious!

Who invented the blondie dessert?

Fanny Farmer is credited with inventing the blondie dessert, but it wasn’t intentional!  She actually titled her blondie recipe “brownies” in the 1896 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook.  Her recipe was an adaptation of her favorite cookie recipe (sans chocolate!) made in a rectangular pan.   Intentional brownies with chocolate appeared a few years later in 1898 in the Kansas City Journal.

Ingredients for Blondie Recipe

Blondies require just a few pantry ingredients which means you can make them any time.  You will need:

• flour: I use all-purpose flour in this blondie recipe.  I have not experimented with gluten free flour, but I assume gluten-free 1 to 1 flour like Bob’s Red Mill would work great.  I do not recommend cake flour or self-rising flour or you will need to change the baking powder/baking soda, etc.
• brown sugar: is the signature caramel-molasses flavor behind Blondies. You may use light, medium or dark brown sugar.  I’ve included more detailed info below.
• melted butter:  you can TASTE the butter in this blondie recipe – YUM!  The butter not only imparts a buttery flavor but ensures a soft, chewy texture.  
• baking powder: is the leavening agent.  Make sure it is fresh, usually 6-12 months is best.
• eggs: you will need 2 large eggs.  They provide structure, binding properties and help make the blondies tender.
• vanilla extract:  use pure vanilla extract.
• add-ins:  I use pecans, sweetened coconut flakes and butterscotch chips in this recipe because the combination is sublime, but feel free to use whatever your heart desires!  I’ve included all sorts of ideas below.

What Brown Sugar is best?

Most of the sugar you find at the grocery store is light brown sugar, unless labeled otherwise.  If it doesn’t say “light, medium or dark,” than it is more often light.  I use light brown sugar in this blondie recipe because it imparts a caramel flavor without an overbearing molasses flavor.  The butterscotch glaze also adds a deeper flavor.

Keep in mind, each degree of brown sugar will have a deeper molasses flavor – so it is completely personal preference how much “molasses” flavor you would like for your blondie recipe.  You may choose to use light, medium or dark brown sugar.

What Can I add to Blondies?

I chose to add pecans, coconut and butterscotch chips to these Blondies, but you can add anything you like or leave them plain.

If adding your own add-ins, you will want anywhere from 2 to 2 ½ cups. The add-ins can be folded into the batter or even sprinkled on top, then slightly pushed into the batter.

Here are a few add-in ideas:

• chocolate chips or chunks
• white chocolate chips
• peanut butter chocolate chips
• M & Ms
• Reese’s candy pieces
• toffee pieces likes bits of brickel
• chopped candy bars: Twix, Butterfinger, KitKat, Snickers, Skor
• nuts:  pistachios, almonds, walnuts
• dried cranberries

Blondie Recipe Variations

In addition to the endless possibilities of add-ins, you can also try these fun ideas:

• Brown butter.  You may choose to melt your butter on the stove top and cook just until golden amber color to create blondies with brown butter for an amazing dimension of flavor.
• Peanut Butter.  Try adding ½ cup of peanut butter to the batter, add ¾ cup of peanut butter chips, or chop up peanut butter cups or Reeses pieces.
• Blondie Brownie Combo.  Experiment with baking blondies and brownies together by swirling or lumping the batter together and cooking.
• Fun Shapes.  Once the Blondies have cooled, you can cut them out with a cookie cutters into fun shapes.   The odd pieces can be saved for ice cream toppings.
• Apple Pie Blondies:  I used this same recipe to make amazing Apple Pie Blondies by baking the blondies for part of the the time then adding sliced apples on top.  This would work with other fruit as well such as pears, peaches, etc.

How to Make Blondies

Let’s see just how easy making blondies is!

1. Whisk dry ingredients together. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Whisk wet ingredients together.  Whisk sugar and melted butter in a separate medium bowl until combined. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients.  Using a rubber spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture just until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in 1 cup pecans, ½ cup coconut and ¾ cup butterscotch chips.
4. Bake blondies.  Bake blondies for 30-35 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs – NOT CLEAN.  It is important not to overbake your blondies or they will be hard instead of soft and chewy.

Tips for Making Blondie Bars

• Line pan. This step isn’t necessary, but I always like to line 9×13 pans with parchment paper because you can remove the blondies in one motion.  Once the blondies are cooled, simply grab the edges of parchment paper and lift them out onto a cutting board to cut.
• Cool butter.  Make sure you let your melted butter cool before mixing with the eggs, or else you will end up with cooked egg pieces.
• Don’t over bake.  The blondies will continue to bake as they cool, so make sure to remove them from the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center has a few moist crumbs clinging to it and is NOT clean.  If the toothpick is clean, it means the blondies are over done.  Properly cooked blondies will have golden edges but the center will look a little underdone.
• Let rest. I think this Blondies taste far superior the next day, so I highly recommend baking them a day in advance or morning of.

DO BLONDIES BARS NEED TO BE REFRIGERATED?

Blondie Bars or any cookie bars do not need to be refrigerated unless they have a cream cheese frosting.  These Blondies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about one week.

DO BLONDIES FREEZE WELL?

Yes!  To freeze Blondies:

• Let bars cool completely before slicing.
• Line bars on a parchment/nonstick mat lined baking sheet without touching.
• Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid (about 1 hour), this prevents the bars from freezing together later when stored.  Alternatively, you can skip this step and freeze bars individually in their own plastic bag.
• Transfer bars to a freezer size plastic bag, and place parchment paper in between each row.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.
• When ready to eat, warm Blondies Bars in the microwave at 20-second intervals until warmed through.

Looking for more Cookie Recipes?

• Snickerdoodle Bars
• Nutella Cookies
• Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies
• S’more Cookies
• Turtle Cookies
• Carrot Cake Cake Cookies
• Caramel Brown Sugar Cookies
• Pumpkin Cookies
• Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cookies

Butterscotch Coconut Blondies

These Blondies are sooooo soft and chewy infused with butterscotch chips, toasted coconut and require NO MIXER!  This Blondie Recipe might just be the best recipe on the planet because butterscotch + coconut = heaven!   Not only are they speckled with butterscotch and coconut throughout but these blondie bars are smothered with the most incredible Butterscotch Glaze and more toasted coconut and pecans on top – because we can.  

Servings: 36 squares

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 35 minutes mins

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Ingredients

Blondies

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups light or medium brown sugar, packed
• 12 tablespoons salted butter melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, divided
• 3/4 cups sweetened coconut flakes, divided
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Butterscotch Glaze (optional- see note)

• 8 tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cups light or medium brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350F degrees. Add coconut to one half of a baking sheet and pecans to the other half. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until coconut is golden, stirring occasionally.
• Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick baking spray OR to easily remove blondies, line baking dish with overhanging parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
• Whisk sugar and melted butter in a separate medium bowl until combined. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture just until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in ¾ cup pecans, ½ cup coconut and ¾ cup butterscotch chips (increase butterscotch chips to 1 cup if not adding glaze).
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked through, taking care not to overcook. Let blondies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
• Once cool, add all of the Butterscotch Glaze ingredients to small heavy saucepan over medium heat and continue to stir until butter is melted. Bring to a boil and continue to simmer over medium high heat (it will bubble a lot) until slightly thickened, about 90 seconds. Remove from heat and as soon as bubble subsides, pour all over blondies and spread immediately with a rubber spatula (before it hardens). Immediately sprinkle Glaze with ½ cup pecans and ¼ cup coconut. Once Glaze has set (about 15 minutes), cut into small squares to serve.
• Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Notes

Blondies Recipe Add-Ins

I chose to add pecans, coconut and butterscotch chips to these Blondies, but you can add anything you like or leave them plain.  If adding your own add-ins, you will want anywhere from 2 to 2 ½ cups. The add-ins can be folded into the batter or even sprinkled on top, then slightly pushed into the batter.

Here are a few add-in ideas:

• chocolate chips or chunks
• white chocolate chips
• peanut butter chocolate chips
• M & Ms
• Reese’s candy pieces
• toffee pieces likes bits of brickel
• chopped candy bars: Twix, Butterfinger, KitKat, Snickers, Skor
• nuts:  pistachios, almonds, walnuts
• dried cranberries

Blondie Recipe Variations

In addition to the endless possibilities of add-ins, you can also try these fun ideas:

• Brown butter.  You may choose to melt your butter on the stove top and cook just until golden amber color to create blondies with brown butter for an amazing dimension of flavor.
• Peanut Butter.  Try adding ½ cup of peanut butter to the batter, add ¾ cup of peanut butter chips, or chop up peanut butter cups or Reeses pieces.
• Blondie Brownie Combo.  Experiment with baking blondies and brownies together by swirling or lumping the batter together and cooking.
• Fun Shapes.  Once the Blondies have cooled, you can cut them out with a cookie cutters into fun shapes.   The odd pieces can be saved for ice cream toppings.
• Apple Pie Blondies:  I used this same recipe to make amazing Apple Pie Blondies by baking the blondies for part of the the time then adding sliced apples on top.  This would work with other fruit as well such as pears, peaches, etc.

HOW TO FREEZE BLONDIES

• Let bars cool completely before slicing.
• Line bars on a parchment/nonstick mat lined baking sheet without touching.
• Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid (about 1 hour), this prevents the bars from freezing together later when stored.  Alternatively, you can skip this step and freeze bars individually in their own plastic bag.
• Transfer bars to a freezer size plastic bag, and place parchment paper in between each row.
• Freeze for up to 3 months.
• When ready to eat, warm Blondies Bars in the microwave at 20-second intervals until warmed through.

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Tools Used in This Recipe

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Casserole Dish 9×13 inches

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Marble Cake Stand with Glass Lid

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Baking Sheet Half Sheet (13×18)

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Non-Stick Baking Mats

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Glass Mixing Bowl Set

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Silicone Spatula Set

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