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Blondies are a classic dessert, but I’ve given them an upgrade with the addition of brown butter and toasted pecans! Blondies are thick & chewy, with incredible depth of flavor from dark brown sugar and toasty brown butter. They’re studded with melty chocolate chips & crunchy bites of toasted pecans.
Why you’ll love these Blondies:
This recipe is incredibly easy to make, the bake time is under 30 minutes, and they easily feed a crowd! Once you’ve experienced the magic of blondies, you’ll want to make them again and again (may I recommend my Ultimate Peanut Butter Blondies next?!).
Ingredient Overview:
As always, the full recipe with measurements & directions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Use the table of contents (back at the top, below the first image, to navigate).
- Butter – I always use salted buter because in my experience, it lends the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if that’s what you prefer.
- Brown Sugar – Use dark brown sugar if possible – it gives even more depth of flavor than light brown sugar.
- All-purpose flour – Spoon your flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a flat utensil for best results, or use a scale. Scooping the measuring cup directly into your flour will lead to too much flour, and a potentially dry bake.
- Pecans – Use pecan halves (they look whole but are technically called halves).
- Chocolate Chips – I recommend semi-sweet or dark chocolate here, as milk would be too sweet for this recipe.
Recipe Substitutions & Variations:
- Dairy-free – Use dairy-free butter & chocolate to make this recipe dairy-free.
- Pecans – Can’t stand the thought of nuts in a dessert? Feel free to omit these! Or swap them for toasted walnuts if you like those better.
- Chocolate Chips – Feel free to omit these if you want the chocolate chip-less experience. Or, use half dark and half semi-sweet, or half white chocolate and half semi-sweet chips. Mix-ins are easily adaptable to your taste!
- Brown Butter – If you’re in a time crunch, you can skip browning the butter, however, I highly recommend it! The flavor is just amazing.
How to Make this Blondie Recipe:
Step 1: Brown the Butter. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, then continue cooking, stirring lazily, for 5 minutes or so, until foamy and golden brown.
This simple step intensifies the flavor of the butter and adds caramely, nutty notes. Try using it in my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies next!
Step 2: Toast the Pecans. Add the pecans to a skillet over medium heat and toast for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Set aside to cool then roughly chop.
Step 3: Make the Batter. Whisk together the brown butter and brown sugar. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients, pecans, and chocolate chips.
Step 4: Bake. Bake as directed in the recipe card below. Do not over bake these!
Serving + Storing:
Once the bars have cooled for about an hour and a half, slice and enjoy! Store leftover bars (cooled to room temperature)
Expert Baking Tips:
- Oven Thermometer – An oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is actually running at the temperature you set it to. Your oven may not be accurate. Accurate oven temperature is crucial for most bakes, so I leave an oven thermometer in at all times to keep an eye on my oven’s calibration.
- Kitchen Scale – A food scale is the best way to make sure your flour is at the proper weight, since amounts will vary SO widely based on how you measure it, as well as the measuring cup you use, as they are not standardized.
FAQs:
Yes you can do either! If you halve it, bake in an 8×8 pan. If you double it, still bake in a 9×13 pan for bars that are twice as thick. The bake time will be longer but I haven’t tried it so I can’t give an exact number. Look for the doneness cues given in the recipe below.
You can but I beg of you to try it! It’s incredibly delicious and takes the flavor of classic blondies to a new level.
You really want to hurt my feelings don’t you, haha! I promise this step is so worth it – toasting nuts really brings their flavor to life and I promise you will not regret spending the extra few minutes on this step.
More Blondie Recipes to Love:
- Biscoff Blondies
- Peanut Butter Blondies
- Nutella Caramel Swirled Blondies
- Butterscotch Blondies
- Easter Egg Blondies
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment & star rating!
Click the little stars in the header of the recipe card below to leave a comment & star rating, letting me know how you liked the recipe. I take all feedback seriously, & leaving a rating helps my small business immensely!
Brown Butter Blondies with Chocolate Chips & Toasted Pecans
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups salted butter, cubed, 283 grams in total
- 2/3 cup pecan halves (don't chop them yet), (You can use up to 1 cup if you want additional pecans)
- 2 cups + 3 tbsp dark brown sugar, packed, 465 grams
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out , 303 grams
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Brown the Butter: Add the cubed butter to a large saucepan (it will foam up quite a bit and we don't want it to spill over!) over medium-high heat. Melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Once it's melted, turn the heat to medium, and continue cooking the butter, stirring frequently. The butter will get bubbly, then foamy, and then turn a deep golden shade with a nutty, caramely aroma. (This will take about 4-6 minutes once the butter has melted.) Once the butter reaches this stage, remove it from the heat. Pour the butter into the mixing bowl you plan to use, and let it chill in the fridge until it's just warm (not hot!) or at room temperature. Tip: This can be done up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in the fridge! Simply re-melt when ready to use.
- Toast the Pecans: Add the pecan halves to a skillet over medium heat and stir frequently, toasting for 2-4 minutes. The nuts will start to deepen in color and will give off a nice nutty aroma. Don't walk away because they can burn quickly! Once toasted, immediately pour the nuts onto a cutting board so they don't burn in the hot pan. Chop them roughly and set aside.
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Spray a 9×13 metal (see note) baking dish with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper.
- Make the Blondie Batter: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar until well combined. Whisk in the vanilla, eggs, and egg yolk until smooth and thick. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and gently fold in until a few streaks of flour remain, then add the chocolate chips and chopped pecans and stir to combine. Evenly spread the batter in your prepared pan.
- Bake: Bake the bars for 27 to 30 minutes. The top will have a golden, almost crinkly/shiny crust, and a toothpick inserted into the center will pull out some thick blondie filling. The center will have a slight wobble. Place pan on a wire rack to cool for about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours before slicing.
- Serve & Store: Slice the bars and enjoy immediately! Store room temp blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. These are amazing warmed back up a bit in the microwave, with a glass of cold milk!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Could I reduce the sugar to one cup total?
Hi Dina! No, I don’t recommend that. Sugar isn’t solely for the purpose of sweetening a recipe. It also contributes to the moisture and structure of a dessert as well, so altering the sugar amount that drastically will likely result in a very dry, crumbly blondie. You could try reducing the sugar by about 15-20%, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend more than that. Happy baking!
Recipe is confusing, why the separate egg?
Hi Rose! The recipe calls for 3 whole eggs plus one additional egg yolk, not one separate egg. Using just an egg yolk instead of a whole egg helps keep these bars nice and chewy. Hopefully that helps! Let me know how you like the recipe!
Made this today and wow. It’s amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks so much, Rachel!
Hi there! I’m excited to try these but I’m curious what makes them “double chocolate”?
Hi Emily! You must be seeing the old title of this recipe in the URL – this recipe used to be a different blondie recipe from years ago before I recently updated it. Ignore that old URL (it’s recommended never to change a URL so once in a while I have an old recipe title in a URL that doesn’t match a new and improved recipe, haha!) Let me know how you like the recipe!
I saw this recipe on tiktok and thought they looked good so I tried my hand at making them. I was skeptical about the amount of brown sugar needed while I was mixing it with my butter but my doubts VANISHED when I tasted the final product and saw how chewy it made them. Never really been one for blondies but these have changed my mind. The brown butter taste really comes through. Will DEF be checking out some other recipes.
So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! And glad to hear that – please be sure to leave a review on anything else you make. Happy baking!
Has anyone tried adding baking powder or using self raising flour for this recipe so they rise a little more? Loved the flavour but didn’t think they were big enough
Hi Laura! I think you could try that but you might end up with more of a cakey bar than a dense, moist blondie. I think the dense-ness and gooeyness of these bars – even if they aren’t super thick – is what makes a blondie a blondie! 🙂 Let me know what happens if you try any of those variations.
Oh my goodness, these look so so good!
Thanks Cassie!