Mix up a butterscotch-y batter that’s rich with dark brown sugar and European-style butter. Fold in a hefty handful of chopped pecans and a generous amount of chocolate chips. Slather the batter in a pan and toss even more pecans and chocolate on top. Bake it until it’s golden and chewy around the edges but still molten and gooey in the center, then cut it into squares. Blondies.
The nuts add richness and subtle crunch to these bars, but if you can’t eat nuts or just prefer to leave them out, the blondies would still be great without them.
Whenever I make cookies or bars with mix-ins such as nuts or chocolate, I always reserve some of the mix-ins and sprinkle them on top before baking. The bars are so much prettier and more enticing-looking with the colors and shapes of the goodies on top, instead of just a plain brown surface with everything hidden underneath.
These blondies bake in a 9×13-inch pan, so they’re not too thick. Watch the baking time carefully, and take the bars out of the oven when the center is just set. A slightly soft and gooey center gives these bars their rich and luxurious texture, packed full of melty chocolate and the contrast of crunchy pecans.
Making these ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Start at least three hours ahead, to give the Blondies time to cool before slicing.
- They’ll stay fresh for at least 3 days, stored tightly covered at cool room temperature.
- Blondies freeze well, especially if uncut. Wrap the entire block – or whatever uncut portion you have left over – in plastic wrap and then again in a freezer-safe zip-lock bag, and keep for two months. If you have cut blondies that you want to freeze, double-wrap them the same way, but plan to enjoy them within a month.
Update, July 2021: I first posted a recipe for Blondies in July 2020. In this update, I’ve revamped the method of mixing the batter. In the original version, I mixed the batter the same way you’d mix chocolate chip cookie dough (starting with room temperature butter creamed with sugar); with this update I’ve switched to a brownie method of mixing, using melted butter. This produces the classic brownie texture in these blondies, complete with the shiny, crinkled surface on top. I’ve also switched to a larger pan, for thinner blondies that bake just long enough to develop chewy edges but retain their meltingly soft centers.
Blondies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (6 ounces/12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, preferably European-style, plus additional for the pan
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1½ cups (6 3/8 ounces/180 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 3/8 teaspoon Morton’s)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips, divided
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped toasted pecans, divided
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9×13-inch square baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, with enough extra length to extend out both ends. Butter the parchment.
- Step 2 Melt the ¾ cup of butter, then pour it into a large bowl. Add both sugars and whisk to combine the butter and sugars into a thick slushy mixture. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly.
- Step 3 Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Step 4 Add the vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and whisk until combined. Whisk in the eggs until combined.
- Step 5 Add the flour mixture and whisk, moving slowly at first to keep the flour from leaping out of the bowl, just until the mixture is combined and smooth – don’t overbeat the batter. Use a silicone spatula to gently fold in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and ½ cup of the pecans.
- Step 6 Use the spatula to scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips and pecans evenly over the surface of the batter.
- Step 7 Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top looks dry and light golden brown around the edges, and the center is just set. Remove the pan to a cooling rack and let the bars cool completely. Use the ends of the parchment to remove the entire block of bars from the pan and transfer it to a cutting board to cut. To make 24 approximately 2¼-inch squares, cut into fourths along the 9-inch side, and then cut each strip into 6 equal squares.
