Oh, you know how much I love a good dense, chewy baked square. Forget flimsy cookies; when I want real satisfaction, I turn to something sturdy, rich, and totally decadent. That’s exactly what these Chocolate Chip Blondies are—the absolute best you’ll ever make, trust me on this. I’ve been tweaking this brown sugar bar recipe for ages, dialing in that perfect ratio of butter to sugar to get that fantastic pull when you bite into one. Honestly, this recipe for Chocolate Chip Blondies has been my go-to secret weapon for potlucks because they disappear immediately!
Why You Will Love These Chocolate Chip Blondies
I’m telling you, these aren’t your grandma’s cakey brownies—these are pure, unadulterated chewy bliss. Once you try them, you’ll ditch every other recipe out there. Here’s what makes them my absolute favorite:
- They are unbelievably chewy! That signature texture comes right from the brown sugar and the slightly melted butter—no funny business.
- Seriously rich flavor. They taste like a super-loaded toffee bar that happens to have chocolate chips in it.
- They are lightning fast to make. We’re talking everything is mixed in one bowl, so cleanup is a breeze.
- The edges get just perfectly crisp while the center stays wonderfully gooey.
Essential Ingredients for Perfect Chocolate Chip Blondies
Okay, the magic starts here, friends. You don’t need fancy flours or rare extracts—just good, honest baking staples handled the right way. I always pull everything out on the counter before I even start mixing, just like I learned from those foundational baking tips to make you a better baker. The list looks short, which is part of why I love these so much!
You’ll need:
- 1 cup (that’s two full sticks!) unsalted butter, and yes, it needs to be fully melted.
- 1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar, packed down tight into the cup. Don’t scoop it loosely, pack it!
- Two large eggs, straight from the fridge is fine.
- 1 tablespoon of that glorious vanilla extract—don’t skimp here.
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour.
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder—this gives us just a tiny lift.
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt—necessary to balance all that brown sugar sweetness.
- And finally, 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Seriously, go heavy on these.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions for Your Chocolate Chip Blondies
Listen, the brown sugar is non-negotiable if you want that signature chew. All that molasses content keeps things soft and dense; swapping it all for white sugar makes them cake-like, and we don’t want cake! I sometimes like to switch out maybe half the semi-sweet chips for some good milk chocolate chips because it makes them taste extra gooey when they melt.
Also, make sure your baking powder is fresh. If it’s old, your blondies might bake up flat and sad, and nobody wants sad blondies, right? A little bit of butter flavor really comes through, so using good quality butter makes a difference!
Step-by-Step Instructions to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Blondies
Look, even though these are perfectly rich, they are truly one of the easiest things you can bake. It’s basically two bowls, a quick whisking session, and boom—you’re ready for the oven. Set your oven to 350 degrees F (that’s 175 degrees C) immediately. While it’s warming up, grab your 9×13 inch pan. I always use parchment paper here, letting the edges hang over the sides; use a tiny bit of cooking spray underneath so the paper stays put.
First things first, in your big bowl, gently mix that melted butter and all that brown sugar until they are just friends, not yet best buddies. Then, beat in your two eggs, one right after the other, making sure each one gets incorporated. Splash in your vanilla extract and give it a quick stir.
In a separate, smaller bowl—don’t skip this step, it helps everything mix evenly!—whisk up your flour, baking powder, and salt until they look completely uniform. Now, add those dry ingredients gradually to your wet stuff. Mix only until you see no more flour streaks showing. Stop mixing right there! Overmixing is the enemy of chewy bars!
Finally, gently fold in those glorious chocolate chips. Seriously, don’t beat them in. Just fold them until they are evenly distributed throughout that beautiful batter. Spread it all out smooth in that prepared pan.
Baking and Cooling Your Chocolate Chip Blondies
Into the oven they go for about 25 to 30 minutes. What you are looking for is the edges to start setting up nicely. When you poke a toothpick toward the center, it shouldn’t come out totally bare; you want some moist crumbs clinging to it. This is the secret to that legendary chewiness! Resist the urge to cut them warm, even if it smells amazing. You have to let them cool completely in that pan first. If you try cutting them hot, you’ll end up with a lovely, gooey mess instead of perfect squares—and trust me, clean squares are satisfying!
Tips for Achieving the Best Chocolate Chip Blondies Texture
Texture is everything with these beauties, right? If you mess up the texture, you might as well have made cake, and that’s just not the goal here with these rich butterscotch blondies style bars!
My number one rule, which I mentioned before but I need to yell it again: slightly underbake them. I mean it! Pull them out when the tester has moist crumbs attached, not dry ones. They firm up so much while they cool on the counter. If you wait until they look perfectly done in the oven, they’ll be hard as a rock later.
Also, please trust your oven thermometer! If your oven runs hot, those 30 minutes will turn into baked hockey puck time before you know it. Mine runs a little cool, so sometimes I have to bump it up slightly at the end just to get those edges firming up right.
Last tip for that perfect chew: use a metal pan, not glass. Metal conducts heat way more evenly and quickly, which helps create that lovely chewy edge that everyone fights over at the dessert table!
How to Store and Keep Your Chocolate Chip Blondies Fresh
You’re going to want to eat these every day, so storing them properly is key to their longevity! The good news is that these blondies hold up beautifully because of all that butter and brown sugar we loaded in there.
Once they are completely cool—and I mean stone cold, otherwise they stick together—you just pop them into an airtight container. I use my big glass Tupperware bin for mine. Keep them right there on the counter at room temperature.
Seriously, they stay fantastic! The recipe notes say they are good for up to four days this way. If you manage to not eat them all on day one, you’ll find they are still chewy and rich on day three. Don’t bother sticking them in the fridge; that just dries them out and makes them hard. Counter storage is the way to go for the best texture!
Variations on Classic Chocolate Chip Blondies
While I swear by the classic semi-sweet chips, these brown sugar bars are just begging for you to play around! The base recipe is so strong that you really can’t mess it up much, which is perfect for when you want something new.
My favorite switch-up is using different chocolate! Try half semi-sweet and half dark chocolate chunks—the dark chocolate really pulls out the molasses flavor from that brown sugar. You could also follow a similar path to my Nutella crumb bars and swirl in some salted caramel sauce right before baking. Yum!
If you’re feeling nutty, toss in about a cup of toasted pecans or walnuts. Make sure to toast them first in a dry pan for just five minutes to wake up their flavor. A tiny splash of almond extract instead of vanilla extract is another great way to change the profile completely. See? So many options for the next batch!
Serving Suggestions for Your Homemade Chocolate Chip Blondies
Okay, they are out of the oven and cooled down—now comes the best part: deciding how to eat them! Honestly, a plain square of these rich chocolate chip blondies is divine all by itself, maybe with a nice cup of coffee.
But if you want to make it an *event*, you absolutely have to serve them warm—not hot, just slightly warm—with a giant scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting right over the top. That hot/cold contrast is just heavenly against the chewy texture.
For something simpler, just dusting them with a little powdered sugar makes them look fancy enough for company. Or, if you’re having them for breakfast—don’t judge!—a big, cold glass of milk pairs perfectly. Pair it maybe with one of my simple strawberry milkshake recipes if you want a real treat!
Frequently Asked Questions About Chocolate Chip Blondies
I always get so many questions once people try this recipe because they want their bars to be just as perfect as the first batch! It’s usually all about texture, which I totally get—that’s the main focus when making these brown sugar bars.
Can I use granulated sugar instead of brown sugar in Chocolate Chip Blondies?
Oh, you certainly *can*, but I really wouldn’t recommend it if chewiness is what you’re after! Granulated sugar doesn’t have that key molasses content that brown sugar does. If you swap it all out for white sugar, you’ll end up with something much closer to a very dense sugar cookie or a cakey bar. You lose that signature pull and moistness. Stick to the brown sugar for the best results!
My Chocolate Chip Blondies are too crumbly, what went wrong?
Crumbly usually means one of two things, and rarely is it the recipe itself! First, check your flour measurement. If you scooped the flour directly out of the bag with your measuring cup, you added too much and sucked the moisture right out. Always spoon and level your flour. Second, it happens if you slightly overbaked them. Remember, we want moist crumbs on the toothpick, not dry ones. Next time, check them a few minutes earlier!
How do I get that perfect crackly top on my Chocolate Chip Blondies?
That shiny, slightly crackly top is just glorious, isn’t it? That happens when you mix your melted butter and brown sugar really well *before* adding the eggs. You want that mixture to be creamy and smooth, like thick syrup. That sugar-fat emulsion sets up beautifully in the heat and separates slightly from the dough below, creating that stunning, shiny crust. Don’t rush that first mixing stage!
Estimated Nutritional Information for Chocolate Chip Blondies
Now, let’s talk numbers, though I promise you, no one is counting when they cut into these squares! Here’s a general idea of what’s in one serving—that’s one chewy square, by the way.
- Calories: About 250
- Total Fat: 14g (with 9g of that being saturated fat)
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Sugar: Roughly 20g (that’s the brown sugar working its magic!)
- Protein: 3g
Think of this as an approximation, because the exact amount depends on what brand of chocolate chips you decide to load your batter with! Enjoy every bite!
Print
Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Total Time: 45 min
- Yield: 16 squares 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A simple recipe for chewy, rich chocolate chip blondies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides.
- In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and brown sugar until combined.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
- Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before lifting out using the parchment overhang and cutting into squares.
Notes
- For chewier blondies, slightly underbake them.
- You can substitute milk chocolate chips or chopped nuts for part of the semi-sweet chips.
- Store cooled blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 20
- Sodium: 100
- Fat: 14
- Saturated Fat: 9
- Unsaturated Fat: 5
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 30
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 3
- Cholesterol: 45
Keywords: chocolate chip blondies, blondies recipe, brown sugar bars, easy dessert, baked goods