Bake up some delicious and easy homemade caramel blondie bars. These blondies are chewy with a gooey caramel topping.
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Looking for a super easy cookie recipe that everyone will love? I've got just the recipe for you!
Whether you need a game day dessert, something to bring to a potluck, or want to kick off fall with caramel cookies, these chewy caramel blondies are the perfect answer.
Blondies are a unique type of cookie that are extra gooey and chewy. Some people even like to describe them as fudgy. Trust me, you're going to love this indulgent treat!
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
This caramel blondie recipe will teach you some new baking techniques including:
- What makes blondies unique - are they more like a cookie or a brownie?
- How to brown butter. Hint: it's easier than you think and the flavor is incredible!
- How a high ratio of brown sugar affects the blondies' texture.
If you're interested in learning more baking secrets, download my free guide with 10 of my favorite tips and tricks for becoming a better baker.
What are Blondies?
What exactly are blondies? If you look up recipes around the internet some people say blondies are close to brownies, while others argue they are more like a cookie. After lots of research, the consensus is that blondies are unique in the following ways:
- They should resemble a thick, chewy cookie. Oftentimes the center is still a bit gooey.
- Blondies have a high amount of brown sugar. This helps provide a chewy texture.
- Many blondies have a rich, nutty taste. This recipe uses brown butter and lots of vanilla to help contribute to that.
If you're still not convinced why blondies are so delicious, check out this article about why blondies deserve more credit.
Ingredients You Need
- Unsalted butter: To amp up the flavor of these caramel blondies, we are going to brown the butter. Brown butter has a deep, nutty flavor since it is cooked just long enough to 'brown' or toast the milk solids found in butter.
- All-purpose flour: Blondies usually have a bit more flour than the average cookie. Make sure you're correctly measuring the flour by fluffing up the flour, scooping it into the measuring cup, and leveling it with a knife. Alternatively, you can measure with a digital scale by weighing the ingredients listed below.
- Baking powder: Baking powder is our leveaner of choice and it provides a little lift to the cookies.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch helps make the cookies extra soft! It's a little baking secret.
- Cinnamon & Nutmeg: These spices add a nice punch of flavor to the cookies. They are the perfect fall spices.
- Salt: Make sure to use fine salt. It is more easily distributed in the blondie batter.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar: A large amount of brown sugar helps make the caramel blondies chewy. You'll notice there is more brown sugar than granulated sugar, which is unique to blondies.
- Egg (and an extra yolk): Allow the eggs to warm up to room temperature before making the cookie dough. You'll also notice we're adding in an extra egg yolk. This is another trick to make chewy cookies.
- Vanilla extract: We are adding quite a bit of vanilla to add flavor to the dish, so I'd suggest investing in high-quality vanilla.
- Caramel topping: Of course, we need some caramel to spread on top of the blondie dough. If you'd prefer to use homemade caramel, see the FAQs below.
How To Make This Recipe
1. First, line a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Next, it's time to brown some butter. Add the butter to a heavy-bottom saucepan. During this process, the butter will begin to melt down and turn a golden brown color. You'll know the butter is fully browned once it smells nutty and it has turned golden brown.
The brown butter can quickly turn to burnt butter, so be careful. This process only takes about five minutes. Don't be tempted to walk away from the stove.
Make sure to transfer the browned butter to a bowl right after it's finished cooking or you may risk burning the butter from carry-over cooking.
3. Whisk all of the dry ingredients together, including flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
4. Whisk the brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a separate bowl.
5. Eggs are an important baking ingredient. They help bind all of the ingredients together. In this step, we're adding a whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla to the bowl with the sugar.
6. Switch over to a silicone spatula and add the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
7. Mix everything together until the flour is fully incorporated. The dough will be very thick.
8. Transfer the dough to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Use the silicone spatula to evenly spread the dough in the pan.
9. Finally, spread the caramel on top of the blondie cookie dough. Bake the cookies for 35 - 45 minutes until the dough has set and the caramel is baked into the cookies.
Expert Tips
- Want your blondies to have a salted caramel taste? Sprinkle some Maldon sea salt flakes on top after the cookies have finished baking.
- To cut the caramel blondies, use a sharp chef's knife.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- If you want the cookies to last even longer, store the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months. Place the caramel blondies in an airtight container in between parchment paper.
Recipe FAQs
No! It's actually easier than you may think to make brown butter. It only takes about 5 minutes and adds a huge amount of flavor to baked dishes. Just make sure you stand next to the stove the whole time you're making brown butter to ensure it doesn't burn.
No. Unfortunately, if the butter is burned you will need to throw it out and start over. Watch this video for some help so it doesn't burn again.
If you're having trouble lining your baking pan with parchment paper, check out this step by step video for a helpful visual guide.
Yes, I love the taste of homemade caramel in these blondies. You can make a batch of homemade caramel using this cookie recipe. I found that the blondies took a few less minutes to cook (about 30 minutes) when using homemade caramel, so just keep an eye on them in the oven.
More Caramel Dessert Recipes
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐rating in the recipe card below. Don't forget to follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest for more recipes.
Caramel Blondies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 ¼ cup (270 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup (160 grams) brown sugar
- ½ cup (99 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (160 grams) caramel topping chilled
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Line a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Add butter to a heavy bottom saucepan. Cook over medium heat while stirring continually. As the butter melts down, foam will begin to form. As soon as you can see golden brown flecks at the bottom of your saucepan and smell a nutty, aromatic aroma, remove the butter from the heat and transfer to a heat-proof bowl. The whole process should take about 5 minutes. Set aside and allow the brown butter to cool.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk together brown butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a separate large bowl. Once combined, add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and whisk together. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together with a rubber spatula just until the flour is fully incorporated. The dough will be very thick.
- Transfer dough to the parchment lined baking pan and spread out evenly. Add caramel on top and smooth.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until the dough has set and caramel has been baked into the cookies (no caramel is pooling on top). Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Mark
These Blondies are amazing! Really good flavor and once you start eating them, they’re hard to put down! If you haven’t tried this recipe, you’re missing out!
Gretchen
I’m giving this a five star because the dough itself is better than I’ve ever had.
I’m worried because one of the key ingredients is cornstarch, but when I read the instructions x like 20 times, nowhere do I see the ingredient added. I’m baking these now without cornstarch 🤷🏼♀️😩. Even though it’s supposed to make the cookies taste so much better.
Am I missing it?
Thank you!
Gretchen
Jessica Mode
Hi Gretchen! Thanks for catching this! The cornstarch is supposed to be there to give the cookies an added softness. Thanks for catching this oversight on my part. I'm adding it into the directions as well. How did they turn out without the cornstarch?! Thanks so much for trying the recipe!! - Jessica
Mary Gillespie
Another 5 star for me. Made these amazing brownies today for a night with family, decorating the Xmas tree