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Why blondies?
If you’ve never had a blondie before, you’re missing out! Think of them as a cousin of brownies, and maybe even somewhere between a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie. However, they aren’t meant to be fluffy or cakey; they’re actually supposed to have a chewy, dense bite to them. Keep reading for more about blondies and our recipe for chocolate walnut blondies.
In my opinion, they can also be a much better vessel for flavors than brownies, because there isn’t as much richness and flavor coming from a chocolate base. Instead, the base of the blondie is made up of brown sugar and butter, giving a nice caramel-like sweetness and flavor, but also working really well with other flavors that you can add. For example, we developed a rhubarb and white chocolate blondie recipe recently that is unbelievably tasty!
Dark chocolate and walnuts: the perfect combination
For today’s recipe, though, we’ve decided to go for the classic flavor combo of dark chocolate and walnuts. That’s because they pair so perfectly together! The blondie base is quite sweet, which is why we prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate, as it adds the perfect bitterness to cut through the sweetness. Then there are the walnuts. They bring a very satisfying texture, adding a crunch to the otherwise soft blondie, and the flavor is also absolutely delicious.
Of course, you may be familiar with this flavor combination because lots of people enjoy putting walnuts in their brownies. That’s delicious too, of course, but the blondies make the walnut flavor pop even more. And you get that nice cross-section with bits of chocolate and walnuts throughout each blondie square. Chocolate and walnut is just a pairing that never gets old!
The secret to fudgy blondies
It took us a few tries to master this recipe, because the texture of blondies is absolutely crucial to get right. You want them to be dense and fudgy rather than cakey, but how do you achieve that? First, melting the butter and sugar together ensures that there’s a distinct lack of air whipped into these ingredients. For a cake, on the other hand, the first stage would often involve whipping air into butter and sugar or into eggs and sugar.
Second, don’t overbake the blondies. You want to bake them until their golden brown around the edges but slightly underbaked in the middle. Overbaking could give them a dry and crumbly texture, and while they’ll still taste good, they won’t be the dense and fudgy blondies that you’re aiming for. When you underbake them slightly, they actually continue cooking as they cool in the pan. If you then also let them cool completely before cutting into them, you’ll end up with fudgy squares that hold their shape perfectly!
Ingredients you’ll need
To make chocolate walnut blondies, you’ll need butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, all-purpose or plain flour, salt, dark chocolate, and walnuts. We like to use both types of sugar because the brown sugar adds that nice caramel flavor, while the granulated sugar helps them keep their structure and encourages the crispy golden edges to form. In terms of dark chocolate, we like to lean towards 70% cacao, but you can go darker if you like, or use milk chocolate if that’s what you prefer. We use regular chopped walnuts, but you can toast them to bring out the flavor, or you can replace them with other nuts. Like chocolate chip cookies, these are adaptable based on the add-ins that you prefer!
How to make our chocolate walnut blondies
We start by melting together the butter and sugar on the stove. You don’t want this on a high heat, because you don’t want too much water to evaporate out of the butter, but you want the sugar to mostly dissolve. Let this cool on the side. This is a good time to chop the chocolate and walnuts (if needed).
Once the mixture has cooled so it’s no longer hot to the touch, add the eggs and whisk until nicely combined. Don’t whip too much air into the eggs at this stage, though. Then, add vanilla extract and mix again, before adding the flour, salt, chocolate, and walnuts, reserving some of the add-ins for decoration. Mix together until you have a thick batter.
Pour the batter into a lined baking tin, sprinkle extra chocolate and walnuts on top, and bake. These can take as little as 15 minutes if you’re baking in a 10×10-inch pan (pictured), but closer to 25 if it’s a 9×9-inch pan, so keep an eye on them. Once they’re golden around the edges and nicely browned on top, they’re done. Let them cool completely in the pan, then lift them out and cut into squares.
Other recipes for chocolate lovers
If you’re in a chocolate mood and want to try more of our recipes, here are some favorites that we think you’ll love. Each one is delicious in its own way, so there’s plenty to explore!
- Chocolate and orange toffee brownies
- Chocolate cake
- Cherry almond brownies
- Chocolate and berry fruit tart
Chocolate Chip and Walnut Blondies
These chocolate walnut blondies are dense and fudgy, packed with flavor. They're the perfect balance of sweet caramel and rich chocolate!
Ingredients
- 200 grams unsalted butter
- 75 grams brown sugar
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 175 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 150 grams dark chocolate (chocolate chips or a chopped-up chocolate bar)
- 100 grams chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line a square or rectangular baking dish with parchment paper (8" x 13", or you can use a square 10" x 10" or 9" x 9" pan).
- Melt the butter and the two types of sugar together in a small pot on the stove until combined and the sugar has mostly dissolved. Let it cool until it's no longer burning hot, about 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, chop up the chocolate and walnuts (if needed).
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar, whisking together for about a minute.
- Combine dry ingredients – flour and salt – in a separate mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients into the wet, folding together with a spatula until there are no dry spots left.
- Set aside a small handful of chocolate and walnuts to sprinkle over the top, then fold the rest of the add-ins into the batter until evenly distributed.
- Add batter to the pan, spreading evenly, then sprinkle over the reserved chocolate and walnuts.
- Bake for 15-25 minutes (this is a wide range because ovens can vary a lot and it depends on the pan that you're using – start checking them at 15 minutes) until the edges are golden brown and the middle is just set. You can check this by poking a knife into the center – if it comes out with no raw batter sticking to it, it's ready. However, it shouldn't be completely clean like when you bake a cake, since you still want a fudgy middle.
- Let cool to room temperature, then slice and enjoy!
