I hope everyone is having a nice Saturday. It’s dark and rainy here, which is okay by me since it’s a perfect excuse for baking more blondies. This recipe is from Katy, who noted it’s “the only blondie recipe you’ll ever need”. These are made with melted butter, and based on all my recent trials, blondies made with melted butter are the best. The ones with creamed ingredients taste good but are more like Toll House chocolate chip bars than dense, smooth, packed-with-chunks blondies. Katy’s Favorite Blondies are very sturdy and taste even better on Day 2.
Dense, thick, blondies with chocolate, coconut and white chips.
Here’s the old photo. For the newly updated photo (above), I made them slightly thicker by multiplying the recipe by 1 1/2.
Katy's Favorite Blondies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Dense, chewy, not at all cakey.
Author: Cookie Madness
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 24
Ingredients
- 2 cups (280g/10 oz) unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (230 grams) melted, very warm, unsalted butter
- 2 cups packed golden brown sugar (420 grams)
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon dark rum or bourbon
- 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips/ chunks
- 1 cup toasted walnuts (optional) – Katy leaves them out
- 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut (optional) or white chips or both
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees F. (176 C). Line a 13x9 inch pan with parchment paper or foil. I used foil and greased only the bottom.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Mix together butter and brown sugar. If you’ve used very hot butter, let the mixture cool for 5 minutes before beating in the egg. With a spoon or whisk, gently beat in the eggs, vanilla and rum. Stir dry ingredients into batter. Let the batter cool down if it is still warm, then stir in the chips and walnuts (optional) and coconut (if using).
- Spread in pan and bake for about 35 minutes or until pale golden and edges start to pull away from the sides (glass pan at 325 will take about 45 minutes). Let cool completely, then lift from pan and cut into squares.
Notes
I almost always use a metal pan, but if you use a glass pan you might want to reduce the heat by 25 degrees.
For thicker blondies, multiply the batter by 1 1/2 times, but bake in a 9x13 inch metal pan for 20 minutes at 350, then another 18-20 minutes at 325 degree F. For a chocolate drizzle, melt about 1 oz of chocolate with 1 teaspoon of butter and drizzle over top of cooled blondies. Chill thoroughly before slicing. You may also add white chips, milk chocolate, whatever!
For thicker blondies, multiply the batter by 1 1/2 times, but bake in a 9x13 inch metal pan for 20 minutes at 350, then another 18-20 minutes at 325 degree F. For a chocolate drizzle, melt about 1 oz of chocolate with 1 teaspoon of butter and drizzle over top of cooled blondies. Chill thoroughly before slicing. You may also add white chips, milk chocolate, whatever!
Mmm, I love how adaptable blondies are! Thanks for the great tip on the shiny tops; I love that flaky top part! 🙂
P.S. By any chance, would you happen to have a CHEWY brownie recipe you might recommend? I’m a fence-sitter between the cakey/fudgy sides, but I’ve been on the lookout for a really chewy recipe (my favorite) without any success whatsoever. Any tips? I’ve been considering using bread flour… :
Mmmm…those look fantastic, and I’m looking for something gooey and rich to make for a party on Thursday.
UC, these are good — not gooey, but dense.
Jen, I just emailed you and recommended these
http://www.cookiemadness.net/?p=1918
These look and sound good – I’ll definitely be trying them. Thanks for the recipe! Your blondie search inspired my own this weekend – reminding me of my bad experience with the Dorie recipe. I found one in Martha Stewart’s Cookies book (butterscotch, toffee & cashew) I want to try also, and one in “A Passion for Baking.” Love your idea for the Top 5 lists in each category.
Oh, Anna, these blondies look like the perfect remedy for a rainy day. Delicious!! I’m so glad that you were inspired to get into the kitchen to make these. I want some! Sorry I’ve been away from blogging/commenting for so long. I just finished up with my exams and am finally getting around to my google reader 🙂 Everything looks delicious!
I made these today! Oh my yummy. Can’t wait to try them tomorrow, since you say they are even better. 🙂
I love blondies and am always looking for a better recipe. so I’m really glad you’ve been on this kick, Anna. So far these are looking like a good contender for my favorite, as well. I even had bourbon in the house to put in them!
Question: where ever you said “beat”, I assumed that meant with an electric mixer, and that’s what I used. But usually when I use melted butter I just stir it in by hand. Any words of wisdom? Does it matter? I kind of love it when I don’t have to get the mixer out, but I’ll gladly do it if that’s part of what makes these so good.
Elyse, I’ll bet it’s a relief to be done with exams and hope you can enjoy yourself for a bit.
Carol, thanks for trying them so fast and giving another opinion. About the mixer, that is a good question. I only take out my electric mixer if a recipe says “beat with an electric mixer” or “beat on high” or “beat for 3 minutes” or something like that. Those are clues because the recipe really needs air beaten into it to turn out right. If I am not instruted to use a device, then I assume the recipe will be okay with a good spoon beating or whisking…which still adds air, but probably not as much as an electric mixer. I’m not saying my interpretation is correct, though. That’s just how I do things when a recipe is not very specific.
I checked with Katy and she just uses a whisk, so need to pull out the electric mixer.
Thanks for that info, Anna! Very helpful. Next time (and there will certainly be a next time) I will leave the mixer in the cupboard. Yea!
I think these really are better today. Such a great texture but still so sturdy. Fantastic, thanks to both you and Katy!
I made these this evening using what I had on hand…..WW flours instead of AP, dark brown instead of light brown sugar…
Instead of the chips and nuts to make 3 cups, I made some “trashy bars” cleaning out the pantry: m&ms, heath peices, dark choc chips, white choco chips, pecans, the last 1/4 cup of oatmeal I had and some wheat germ.
I cannot get over the flavor of these. AMAZING. My kids just LOVE them.
Now how to keep myself from going back for more…otherwise, why did I go jogging?
I made a 1/2 batch of these today to “make up” for the cakes I made but am not serving to my family. They say I bake too much for others and they are probably correct. We haven’t tried the final product yet but my son changed the name to “Drunken Blondes” thanks to the rum. What can I say ~ he’s 15! Any, I used broken pieces of Hershey’s dark chocolate bars and, rather than nuts, I used bitty pieces of caramel(Kraft?). The batter was great so I can’t wait to try the cooled bars. We sampled a mini Root Beer Cake that I made along side the bigger ones for dessert. One of my first grade students said that I had to bring a “madehome” treat for my birthday this week. Who can argue with that?
Thanks for the great recipe. No mixer needed as you suggested.
Hi Mariah, thanks for testing the recipe with whole wheat flour and wheat germ. Your version must taste really interesting. I’m going to try using whole wheat flour one day, but at this point I’m more excited about the various combinations of chunks you can add.
Janet, we need to warn people not to drive after eating one of these blondies. You know how drunk people can get off 1 tablespoon of rum. Your son sounds cute and so do your first graders. Let me know how the milk chocolate worked out.
These are PHENOMENAL. They will be my new go-to recipe. I followed your directions of hot butter and baked at 350. Thank you!
Blake, that’s great! Glad hot butter and 350 worked for you. I think Katy mentioned she also made these with dark brown sugar and cinnamon chips sometimes.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that these freeze well and keep well. I made these a few days ago then frozen them overnight to keep them fresh for the potluck. Then I brought some home from the potluck and they were still very good today.
Love. These. Just finished eating one, in fact. Rum is the only alcohol we had at home, good thing!
I will be returning to your blog again and again. My husband will despise me. (His dad had a heart attack in his 40’s, but I can’t help my crazy sweet tooth and love of baking!)
Oh, and we are the hugest ATK/CI fans! We use their family cookbook for practically everything!
Sorry, one more thing. I used white chocolate chips, as I didn’t have any chocolate ones on hand. I think I need to put an electric fence around the pan…
Hi Tara,
Thanks for the feedback on the blondies :). Good idea about an electric fence to put around the pan. Ha.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I spent a good 45 minutes searching for a recipe, not knowing what I was in the mood for. I’m fairly certain I scrolled through each and every pesky little category on your blog until I settled for these.
As the 15-year-old [primary] chef of the household, I’ve baked my way through dozens of blondie recipes and haven’t yet discovered one quite so tantalizing. Until now.
I’m happy to report my father ate half the pan in one sitting.
Your recipes are beyond incredible, every one I’ve tried. I’m somewhat addicted to browsing their photographs. At some point I must learn to control myself. I’m always hungry afterward.
THANK YOU ANNA!
Hi Emily,
I’m happy to hear you liked this blondie recipe. If you see Katy’s name by a recipe, it’s sure to be a good one. She knows how to pick them! Also, it’s cool that you’re 15 and the primary chef.
Anna, I am curious what purpose the alcohol has in the recipe. As a non drinker I asked for the help of the guy at the liquor store and he informed me that bourbon and rum are very very different. Since it’s only a tablespoon I figured that either one would be fine and went with the rum. Would it be a different effect if I chose the bourbon instead?
Anyway, they turned out absolutely fabulous! Loved these and will definitely make them again and again!
K.T., in this case they just add a little flavor. I think you would have been okay using some other liquid like orange juice or coffee, but it’s good you used the rum. Now you can make a rum cake :). So anyway, if you’d used Bourbon you would have had a different flavor.
Thank you for steering me to these blondie bombshells!!!! Best I’ve made yet! I did make one mistake and a few changes based on what I had around the house.. pecans, strong coffee (didn’t think beer should be the alcohol flavor!) , salty butter, but didn’t add bananas for a change!! I think next time I make them (and there will be a next time soon) I’ll add a little more salt and try 1/2 dark brown sugar…The mistake was I beat in the egg with the electric mixer….They still turned out excellent.
Just made these again…for about the zillionth time. This will always be my master recipe for bar cookies. The rum totally makes these.
Hi Tara,
I’m glad you like the recipe. It’s become my master recipe for blondies as well!
Hi Anna – Just came across this recipe on your site and made it minus the rum and chocolate, but kept the nuts and added date pieces. They are to die for delicious! Thanks for posting it. I am going to make a batch of the chili lime corn squares mix for the super bowl party we are attending – I think it will be a big hit. Love your site and your inventiveness!
These are so yummy and the recipe is so easy! This one’s a keeper, like so many other recipes you have shared with us. Thanks for such a great blog 🙂
I made these last week, and yes, they are the only recipe I need. I halved the recipe and baked in an 8×8 glass pyrex dish (lined with nonstick foil). So I couldn’t do a quick cool; I just lifted them out of the dish after a few minutes and put them on a rack. They baked in exactly 25 minutes. The edges were done (chewy) and the center was very soft (possibly under done), just like I like them! I also omitted the nuts, used dark brown sugar, a little extra vanilla and a little extra rum (to my already halved recipe). I LOVE them.
These blondies are beyond amazing! I make them with the semi-sweet chips and walnuts and I also make them with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts and every time I make them they turn out awesome! Sometimes I’ll make a quick strawberry buttercream and frost the top of the white chocolate chip ones and call them strawberry blondies! Thanks for sharing this recipe – I will never go looking for another blondie recipe again 🙂
Wow, can’t believe it is seven years later, and these are still my go-to baked treat. I have made them countless times, and have many friends who ask for them specifically. The recipe as given is excellent, and I have a few enhancements that I think take them over the top: I make my own brown sugar, with regular sugar (actually, organic cane sugar, so it’s a little grainier and beige in color) and a lot of molasses, so it is quite dark brown. I use a tablespoon of vanilla (also homemade.) I use Guittard dark chocolate chips and no other additions. I underbake them a bit, too. I’m telling you, they are so easy and ridiculously decadent! Thank you again so much for this fantastic recipe!
Oh, I have also made them using chopped up Lindt chocolate bars with orange. I have a friend who loves orange and chocolate together, so I made them for her once but they were a hit with everyone, so I’ve done that a few other times, too.