Easy Blondies (Halloween Edition)

This is the only blondie recipe you’ll ever need. These blondies are perfectly chewy and slightly caramel-y. This base recipe can be modified with add-ins like nuts, butterscotch chips, and white chocolate chips (variations included below). As they are, they’re the perfect treat with a warm cup of coffee or tea!

Halloween is just around the corner, and I’m celebrating with these delicious blondies! This is one of my mom’s go-to recipes, as it can be varied so widely. She’s been making these (sometimes with nuts, sometimes with butterscotch chips, sometimes with chocolate chips) for years. She walked me through her recipe, and now I’m sharing it with you.

So…what is a blondie?

Blondies are similar to brownies (baked in a 9×13 pan, chewy, typically cut into squares) but lack cocoa powder. And importantly, where the classic brownie recipe uses white sugar, blondies rely on brown sugar for their deep flavor. Much like their cousin the brownie, blondies are super versatile. They are delicious with add-ins like toasted nuts, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and more. To that end, I’ve included five variations for you below.

How to make them

Make sure you’ve got plenty of time to bake these, as you’ll need to let the caramel “sauce” cool for about 30 minutes after simmering. I like to bake these when I have about a 1.5 hour time window in the evening, or on a relaxed weekend afternoon. There’s not a ton of hands-on time, but you will need to be around.

• Making the “caramel sauce”: Don’t be intimidated by this step! You’re not making a true caramel sauce. We’re just calling it that for ease of discussion here. All you’re really doing in this step is simmering the butter and brown sugar over low heat until it fully incorporates. Stir continually with a spatula for about 5 minutes, until you have a glossy sauce that resembles caramel sauce. It will still be slightly grainy!
• Let the “sauce” cool: Once the butter and sugar resemble a sauce, remove from the heat and carefully transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if you plan to use a hand mixer). Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until cool enough that you can add in the eggs without cooking them.
• Whisk remaining dry ingredients: While the “sauce” is cooling, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
• Prep: Preheat the oven to 325 *F and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
• Mix the batter: After 30 minutes have passed, add the 2 eggs and vanilla to the “sauce” and mix, just until incorporated. Then add in the dry ingredients a bit at a time (to avoid flour flying all over the kitchen!). Finally, mix in add-ins like nuts or chocolate chips and bake. See the variations below for ideas!

 

 

Variations

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Blondies: Add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 cup peanut butter chips
• White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies: Add 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup Craisins
• Butterscotch Blondies: Add 1 cup butterscotch chips
• Cranberry Orange Blondies: Add 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest and 1 cup Craisins
• Toasted Pecan Blondies: Add 1 cup freshly toasted, chopped pecans

Do you have another variation of blondies you love? I’d love to share it. Leave a comment below and tell me about it.

Halloween Blondies (with Sprinkles)

For my spooky blondies, I whipped up the batter and spread in a pan without any add-ins. Instead, I opted to sprinkle the top of my blondies with one of Graffiti Sprinkles’ bake-safe halloween mixes with cute little ghosts and bats. (Buy it here). Obviously you could use seasonal sprinkles to get this same look for Christmas, Valentine’s, Fourth of July, or Birthdays! You can read more about why I like Graffiti Sprinkles in my Cake Batter Dip (with Sprinkles!) post.

More Fall Favorites

A few of our favorite fall recipes for coffee hour…

• Individual Pumpkin Spice Trifles
• Whole30 Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Lavender Latte with Almond Milk + Honey
• Sweet + Salty Black Bean Brownies

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