Easy Blonde Brownies Recipe

I know this may sound like sacrilege, but I think I prefer blonde brownies over chocolate ones.

Don’t get me wrong – I love chocolate and would never turn down a delicious fudgy homemade brownie.

It’s just that I prefer the butterscotchy goodness of blonde brownies more.

A good blonde brownies recipe and a little ingenuity can take you far.

Blonde brownies or “blondies” are extremely easy, versatile and customizable, taking to a wide variety of additions.

Think chocolate chips, coconut, dried fruit, and nuts.

You can dress them up or down, depending on the circumstances.

Sometimes I like to bake them in a 9-inch round pie dish, then serve blonde brownies wedges a la mode for dessert.

And they are so easy.

Because this easy blond brownie recipe uses melted butter, there’s no creaming of butter and sugar required.

You just stir a few basic ingredients together, pour the batter into a baking pan and pop it in the oven.

Easy Blonde Brownies Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 1 cup optional additions below (if desired)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or shortening and set it aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended and set it aside.

3. In a medium size saucepan, melt the butter on low heat.  Remove from the heat and with a whisk or wooden spoon, stir in the brown sugar until melted and well blended.  Add the egg and vanilla, and stir until smooth and creamy.

4. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined then stir in up to 1 cup total of any optional additions. Pour into the prepared pan.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Cut into desired size blonde brownies.

Optional Blonde Brownie Recipe Additions & Variations

• Chopped nuts
• Chopped bittersweet chocolate
• Chocolate, peanut butter, or butterscotch chips
• Chopped caramels
• Dried cherries, cranberries, or apricots
  
• Coconut
• Oats (Old-fashioned or quick cooking)
• 2 teaspoons of espresso powder stirred into the butter/sugar mixture
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite liquor stirred into the butter/sugar mixture (bourbon, amaretto, rum…)
• 1/2 teaspoon almond or coconut extract in place of the vanilla
  

Butterscotch Coconut Blonde Brownies – Stir 1/2 cup butterscotch chips, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, and 1/4 cup shredded coconut into the batter before spreading into the pan.

Chocolate Chunk Blonde Brownies – Stir 1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts into the batter before spreading into the pan.

Hints & Tips

For super easy cleanup line your baking pan with foil that extends beyond at least 2 sides. Grease the foil and bake as directed. When the brownies are cool, just lift them out by the foil “handles” and peel away the foil. This makes it easier to cut evenly sized brownies too.

More Easy Cookie and Brownie Recipes…

Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Espresso -a great easy chocolate cookie recipe you’ll love
Easy Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies – Easy brownies made extra special with a whirl of cream cheese
Oreo Brownies – an easy brownie recipe to which you add chopped oreos
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - an easy cookie recipe for the best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve tried yet
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bar Brownies
Easy Brownies with Ganache – An easy brownies recipe that begins with a box jazzed up with a topping of chocolate ganache.