Blondie 2010
Kandy Swartzel
That is, until I met this particular blondie recipe, which involves a ton of peanut butter and is therefore obviously superior, especially with the addition of chocolate chips. (Okay, those are not in the recipe, but I swapped them in for the roasted peanuts because everyone knows that peanut butter and chocolate go together like rainy days and sweatpants.)
The search for the best blondie recipe first stalled a few years ago when all the recipes on the first few pages of Google looked very similar. What ARE blondies, you ask? You can think of them as the cocoa-less cousin of brownies (which, I also have a best brownie bake off). Blondies characteristically include melted butter for chewiness (vs. creamed butter used in most traditional American cookies), which is the principal feature that sets them apart from say, a cookie cake. More on what exactly a blondie is below!
A classic blondie recipe typically uses 1 egg to 1 cup flour/1 cup sugar. I found the recipes that used more like 1.5-2 eggs per 1 cup of flour or sugar (Bravetart, Molly Yeh) tended to be more cakey due to all the extra moisture. However, recipes that used extra yolks (Broma Bakery, Sarah Kieffer, Buttermilk by Sam) tended to be more rich and chewy.
While I think you can still get a good result in a glass pan, your blondies may tend to bake more quickly around the edges and remain soft in the middle. Baking in a metal pan is preferable for a more even bake!
King Arthur uses a specific technique to help achieve a consistently shiny blondie top. The recipe starts by melting the sugar and butter together (dissolved sugar is key to a shiny top). To help further dissolve the sugar, eggs are mixed in one by one specifically agitate the batter. Interestingly, this recipe uses the same amount of sugar and a similar amount of eggs/flour to Broma Bakery, but half the amount of butter.
My to go blondie is Nora cooks, but wanted to give Broma a try. They are really fudgy. For me a bit too fudgy and doughy but they taste great ? Looking forward for new bake offs, thanks so much ?
The pistachio ice cream center is perfectly sweet and pistachio-forward, made with both pistachio butter and a bit of pistachio extract for added flavor, while the blondie is topped with crunchy topped pistachios for a perfect textural experience. Pistachio three-ways, if you will.
Basically, you bake the blondie in a very thin layer in a large sheet pan, then cut out two squares from that larger sheet. Layer those with the no-churn ice cream in a smaller 8-by-8-inch square baking pan.
Assembling ice cream sandwiches this way is far easier than trying to smoosh scoops of ice cream between two cookies, at least I think so. Assembling it altogether in one big block and then cutting it apart makes for much cleaner results.
You can technically halve the recipe and assemble in a 6-by-6-inch square pan or a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (bake your blondie in a quarter sheet pan), however trust me when I say you may regret not making the full batch. The sandwiches keep beautifully in the freezer for up to 3 months (wrap them individually in waxed paper or cling wrap and store in an airtight container), and your future self will definitely appreciate your foresight when the next craving hits.
Mix and match the pistachio ice cream from this recipe with the brownie and ganache layers from my malted fudge brownie ice cream sandwiches. Because pistachio and chocolate are a seriously delicious combination as you very well know.
In lieu of the pistachio butter, you can also mix in just about anything to flavor the sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream base, such as cocoa powder, nutella, pureed strawberries, caramel sauce, espresso powder, or mashed bananas. Stir in sprinkles, chopped chocolate, cookie dough chunks, or crushed up oreos. I mean, really, the possibilities are endless!
While the pistachio extract is optional, I find it helps enhance the natural pistachio flavor and make the ice cream taste more like the pistachio-gelato flavor we expect when we think of pistachio sweets.
Malted milk powder adds a bit of depth and toastiness to the blondie layer. You can use regular whole milk powder (it just makes the blondie layer a bit richer tasting), or leave it out altogether.
I prefer to buy it as commercial stuff has a smoother texture, but you can make it the same way as homemade peanut butter essentially:
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I find blanched pistachios tend to make for better (and more brightly colored) pistachio butter. You may need to add a little bit of pistachio oil to smooth it out as needed.
Welcome to Love & Olive Oil, the culinary adventures of Lindsay and Taylor. We're all about food that is approachable but still impressive, unique and creative yet still true to its culinary roots. (More about us...)
I made it last night for my ceramics class and everyone loved it! Used Whole Foods 365 dark chocolate chunk. I like my blondie a little more cake-like but not too much, so added just under a 1/4 tsp baking powder. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe.
Deb, thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I absolutely love dried cherries, so I tried the cherries, white chocolate, coconut and walnut version. They were to die for. I love this recipe because it can be made quickly with whatever ingredients I happen to have on hand and with very little clean-up.
Deb, just wanted to say thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe! I whipped up a double batch of these bad boys and threw in some nuts and dark chocolate for my company Christmas party. Not a crumb was left! :)
I made these the other day as a surprise for my mother and they were FANTASTIC. We knocked out the whole pan in a day (sorry diet!). They were perfectly moist. I added dried cherries, white chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Thanks so much for the recipe! They were quick and easy to make but tasted as if I slaved over them all day.
Just phenomenal and so easy! I threw in a good 3/4 cup of toffee pieces and a little over 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Baking took more like 35 minutes and the center was still on the gooey side, but the end product was worth the wait!
I stumbled into your site whilst trying to decipher what the heck went wrong with the ratios in the blondie recipe I was working on. My friend shot me a recipe for coconut blondies, but it was more like a mediocre coconut cake, with the butter and sugar creamed and all that. Anyhow, those hit the bin, and it was time for round two! I used your base recipe with a smidge of coconut cream and a whole lot of shredded coconut. As soon as my knife cut into these, I knew they were gonna be great!!
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By the way, your blog is going in my bookmarks for gratuitous food porn- I love it!
i came across this recipe and really want to try it but i was wandering if you or anyone could tell me the equivalent weight of a tablespoon of butter in either grams or ounces. I am English and am not familiar with these types of measurements, so if anyone could let me know that would be great! :)
Wow, I just stumbled upon this recipe from and I am going to make them. I am visiting my daughter and family for Christmas and she has given me strict instructions I have to make something to take, so this will be it.
Merry Xmas to all.
I have been baking these blondies for about two years and yet each time I am suprised by the insane taste and ease of making this recipe. When I make them I suddenly become Mommy again to my 15 and 18 year old boys. Thanks again for this madly delicious recipe!!!
Just made these with sliced almonds, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and some finely diced pear soaked in Calvados. The flavors are complex beyond words. Love your blog, love Mark Bittmann, keep up the great work.
I love this recipe! I used dark chocolate and white chocolate chunks, and instead of bourbon I used Amaretto and served them with caramel sauce and ice cream. The first time I made them I added walnuts and cherries but I found them to be better without. I love the variations and that they are a people pleaser and so easy!
I just discovered Marble Blondies! I used the recipe stated above, but I melted the butter in the microwave in the mixer bowl. Then I added the other ingredients, but when I added the chocolate chips, they melted due to the heat of the bowl from melting the butter. So they are now Marble Blondies,delicious!
I am going to try these out this week, thanks for posting it. They look great. However, I own that cookbook and can not find the recipe anywhere in it. do you have an older version that maybe has different recipes than the newer copy? Or am I just totally blind? also I was wondering if you are supposed to use unsalted butter? I am assuming that you are.
That said, I mixed in a good cup or so of coconut flakes, ghiradelli white and semi sweet choco chips and walnuts and its crazy good!!! My roomate just said that she is no longer a brownie girl but a blondie girl so they are definitely up for the task of satisfying friends.
The bourbon is not too strong at all and I sprinkled the top with an extra ounce while they were still warm. Most people will probably not even be able to tell what it is, just a little extra flavor. My boyfriend guessed they had banana in them.
The recipe should have stated Dark brown sugar, tightly packed. Light brown will work too, but dark brown is more molasses-y, and has more flavor. I love the idea of adding a sweet liquor, like bourbon or rum, and will definitely try that. yum! Also, I add butterscotch chips, a whole bag, whenever I make these. Underbake a little for a gooey sugar treat. And I love the idea of combining chocolate and butterscotch chips, and will try that too.