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These brownie blondies are the perfect combination of blondies and brownies. They're gooey and fudgy with notes of brown sugar and caramel - you'll never have to choose between the two desserts again! Easy to make, 8 ingredients, and no mixer required!
Choosing between blondies and brownies is a regular dilemma for me. I crave the chocolatey fudgy taste of brownies but I also love the brown sugar, caramel flavor of blondies.
And so that's how brownie blondies were born! If blondies and brownies had a baby, this would be it, and I have to admit - I might like these brownie blondies more than regular brownies or regular blondies on their own.
Why These Brownie Blondies Work
- They're gooey, with notes of caramel and brown sugar from the blondie batter and so much fudgy chocolate flavor from the brownies.
- These brownie blondies have the perfect crinkle top that we all know and love!
- Even though two batters might seem like a bit of work, brownie batter and blondie batter require almost all the same ingredients, so making the two batters is easy! Just swirl them together in the pan and voila!
- You can make this recipe using regular dairy butter or dairy free butter - it's been tested both ways!
Ingredient Notes
- Butter: you can use regular butter or dairy free/vegan butter in this recipe.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend using unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder, but you can use natural cocoa powder if that's what you have on hand.
- Flour: This recipe uses all purpose flour. I don't recommend substituting this as the recipe hasn't been tested with other types of flours.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar is what gives these brownie blondies their caramel flavor, so I don't recommend substituting. The one exception is that you can use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar.
Step By Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP ONE: Prepare an 8x8 inch square baking pan. Line it with parchment paper and leave some hanging over the sides to make it easier to remove the brownie blondies from the pan later. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
STEP TWO: To make the brownie batter, melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Add in the brown sugar and white sugar, then whisk well until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the bowl like a paste.
STEP THREE: Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract. Whisk well, then add in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until just combined and set aside.
STEP FOUR: Make the blondie batter in a separate bowl following all the same steps as above, except the dry ingredients are just flour and salt (no cocoa powder).
STEP FIVE: Scoop around ¼ cup of the blondie batter into one corner of the 8x8 lined pan, then use a different measuring cup to scoop ¼ cup of brownie batter into the opposite corner. Alternate in a checker pattern (see step by step pictures below), always adding brownie on top of blondie and vice versa. The batters will seep together a little bit - that's okay.
STEP SIX: Take a knife and make a swirl in the top of the batter, starting at one end of the pan down to the other. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownie blondies comes out mostly clean with just a few wet crumbs (see picture below). Let them cool completely in the pan before slicing.
FAQS and Expert Tips
It's tough to tell when brownies and blondies are done baking but here are the tell-tale signs:
1. The top has that shiny, crinkly look to it.
2. Jiggle the pan - the batter in the middle shouldn't shake!
3. Finally - always stick a toothpick in the centre of the brownie blondies! The toothpick should not be clean, but not covered in batter either. It should be mostly clean with a few wet crumbs.
Unfortunately, you probably under-baked them. Or, you sliced into them too early. The brownie blondies continue to set as they cool, so slicing into them when they are warm will create a gooey mess. You can try to salvage them by putting them in the fridge to firm up.
Yep! Just double the recipe and keep a close eye on them - I would start checking on them at around 20-25 minutes, as they will bake faster.
You likely mixed the batters together too much. The pattern of the brownie blondies will look slightly different every time these are made as it depends on the way the batters naturally blend together.
In order to get that crackly top, you need to do two things:
1. Vigorously whisk the butter and sugars together until a paste forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl
2. Whisk the eggs into the batter well.
If you add the ingredients to the bowl out of order or skip the above steps, you might not get the crackly top.
Expert Tips
- Properly measure your flour - please! Use a $15 kitchen scale (this is the most accurate way) or the fluff, scoop, and level method.
- Do not over-mix the batter! Only mix until the dry ingredients are just combined.
- Be sure to whisk the butter and sugars together until they are paste like and pull away from the sides of the bowl, and whisk the eggs in well. This helps create the crackly top as well.
- Don't mix the two batters together too much with the knife, or else they will be too blended and you won't have the two distinct flavors.
- Use two different measuring cups to scoop the brownie batter and blondie batter into the pan so that the batters don't mix together.
- I highly recommend using an 8x8 metal baking pan. The brownie blondies will bake more evenly, and baking them in a glass pan will take longer as well.
- Don't over-bake the brownie blondies - if the toothpick comes out clean, you've likely over baked them and they won't be gooey and soft like they should be! I like to start checking on them early, at around the 28 minute mark.
- Don't slice the brownie blondies until they have completely cooled - trust me. Slicing into them while they are still warm is a great way to ruin brownie blondies as they will be a gooey, liquidy mess!
Storage Instructions
The brownie blondies should be stored un-sliced in the baking pan covered tightly with tin foil. They will stay fresh for up to 5 days (if you can make them last that long!).
If they've already been sliced, you can store them in an air tight container at room temperature.
I don't recommend freezing these bars!
MORE BROWNIES AND BLONDIES YOU'LL LOVE
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If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Brownie Blondies
Equipment
Ingredients
Brownies
- 6 tablespoon butter, melted (regular or dairy free)
- 6 tablespoon light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder SEE NOTES
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoon all-purpose flour SEE NOTES
Blondies
- 6 tablespoon butter, melted (regular or dairy free)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup + 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour SEE NOTES
Instructions
Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving parchment paper hanging over the sides of the pan so that you can easily remove the brownie blondies from the pan later.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small pan over the stove. Transfer the melted butter to a medium sized bowl.
- Add in the light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk the butter and sugars together. Keep whisking until the mixture resembles a paste that pulls away cleanly from the side of the bowl when you mix it.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk well.
- Pour the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into the bowl and mix with the whisk until just combined. Do not over-mix! Set aside while you make the blondies.
Blondies
- In another medium bowl, add melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Again, whisk the butter and sugars together until it resembles a paste that pulls away cleanly from the side of the bowl.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla, then whisk well.
- Add the flour and salt into the bowl and mix with the whisk until just combined. Again, do not over-mix!
- Use a measuring cup to scoop about ¼-1/3 cup of brownie batter into one corner of the baking pan. Use a different measuring cup to scoop the ¼-1/3 cup of blondie batter into the space beside it. They will start to spread together since the batter is runny - that's okay.
- Add another scoop of brownie batter to the corner opposite where the other scoop of brownie batter was, then if there is room, do the same with the blondie batter. Add a scoop of brownie batter over top of the blondie batter, then a scoop of blondie batter over top of one of the brownie batter areas, and alternate this way until all batter is gone. (Process photos are in the post above for reference).
- Take a butter knife and lightly draw an "S" shape in the top of the batter with the tip of the knife, creating a marble effect (Photo in post above for reference). This step is optional, as it just creates a prettier look on top. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the brownie blondies comes out with just a few wet crumbs on it (but not covered in batter).
- Let cool completely in the pan before slicing!
Notes
Nutrition
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
I loved the combo of the two batters - they balanced each other perfectly! The instructions and pictures were also so easy to follow. These will be made often in my house!
Hi Janna! I'm so happy to hear that you loved the recipe - and thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! 🙂
Can you use flax eggs? Thanks!
Hi Suzanne! Substituting for eggs in brownies/blondies can be tough, but that might work fine. I haven't tested this recipe myself with flax eggs, so I can't say for sure how they will turn out! If you try it I'd love to hear how it goes 🙂 Good luck!
I’ve been using a brownie recipe for years without trying anything new but gave these a try and won’t go back! Definitely an amazing go-to recipe!
Hi Ardit! I'm so happy that you tried something new and it paid off! I'm glad that you loved the recipe, thanks for stopping by!
The texture is to die for! I typically struggle between over or undercooking my brownies but these were easy to achieve the perfect amount of gooey goodness!
Hi Jill! I'm thrilled to hear that you loved the brownie blondies 🙂 Thanks for trying them out!