Yield: 16 toffee chocolate chip blondies // Total Time: 1 hr. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. // Recipe updated 11/10/2022
These toffee chocolate chip blondies are soft, chewy, and bursting with delicious toffee flavor thanks to the addition of a simple homemade toffee.
Toffee chocolate chip blondies
What is a “blondie”? Blondies are in essence supposed to be brownies without the chocolate, a vanilla brownie if you will! However, if you are looking for something to compare them to I would say they very closely resemble a cookie bar. So imagine a chewy cookie bar, packed with toffee flavor and chocolate chips. Basically I’m trying to convey that these are amazing and delicious, and you should make them!
Toffee chocolate chip blondies recipe tips
Weigh your ingredients
Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient and can easily throw off a recipe. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!
Mix the dough carefully
When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Overmixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the blondies more tough and chewy than desired.
Get those perfectly crackled brownie / blondie tops
The secret to getting crackly brownie and blondie tops is all in whisking the eggs. Make sure you vigorously whisk in the eggs for at least 1 minute to help form that classic crackled top!
How to get perfect blondie slices
Brownies and bars can be annoying to cut, especially when they start dragging the batter and it seems like half of the brownies have ended up on your knife! To get perfect blondie cuts, get a clean knife and a tall glass of hot water. Dip the knife in the hot water, then make a slice in the blondies. Continue dipping and slicing to be left with perfectly cut blondie slices!
Ingredients and substitutions
For the toffee:
Here are the ingredients you will need to make the homemade toffee bits. If you’d like to skip this part, feel free to use store-bought toffee bits, which you can find near the chocolate chips at the grocery store!
Unsalted butter & light brown sugar: make up the base of the buttery simple homemade toffee. Feel free to use salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the toffee.
Salt: just a pinch of salt is needed to bring out and balance out the flavor and sweetness.
For the blondies:
All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
Salt: helps balance and bring out the sweetness of the blondies
Baking powder: helps the blondies rise
Baking soda: reacts with the light brown sugar to help the blondies rise and helps with browning.
Unsalted butter: tenderizes the blondies and thanks to browning the butter, lends a toasty flavor to them. Feel free to use salted butter here, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the dough.
Light brown sugar: adds moisture, depth of flavor, and sweetness. I’ve chosen to put light brown sugar here as I think it’s more accessible but if you have the chance to, I highly recommend trying these out with dark brown sugar for an even richer flavor.
Eggs: adds moisture and helps bind the dough together.
Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
Chocolate chips: I go between using semi-sweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips when I make these to kind of balance out all of the sweetness of the dough. Feel free to use your favorite type of chocolate chips, chunks, or baking bar here!
How to make toffee chocolate chip blondies
1. Brown the butter. We’ll start off the recipe with browning the butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, and occasionally swirl until the butter turns amber in color. Immediately remove the butter from the heat and set aside to allow time for it to cool off.
2. Make the toffee (optional): If you’d like to make a super easy homemade toffee to add to these blondies (which I highly recommend for the best flavor!), then you would do so at this point.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the brown butter and brown sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla and whisk vigorously for 1 minute. This step is important in getting that crackly top!
4. Fold in dry ingredients. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together until just a few flour streaks remain. Add in your chocolate and toffee bits, then fold just until no flour streaks remain.
5. Add on extra toppings. Pour the batter into a buttered and lined 8×8″ baking dish. Top with extra chocolate chips and toffee bits if desired.
6. Bake. Bake the blondies at 350°F / 175°C for 30-35 minutes, until the blondies are mostly set in the middle.
7. Serve and enjoy! Wait for the blondies to cool off a bit before cutting into them. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Toffee Chocolate Chip Blondies Q & A
Can I double this recipe?
Of course! Simply double the ingredients and bake everything in a 9×13″ pan, or divide them into two 8″ square pans. Keep a close eye on them if you do end up baking in a 9×13″ pan, as the baking time may change.
How to make brown butter:
Add the butter to a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Occasionally swirl the butter while it is melting. Continue cooking and occasionally swirling the butter until it begins to bubble up and turn amber in color. Once the butter turns amber and you can see little brown bits in it, remove it from the heat, and now you have brown butter! Make sure your pour all those little brown bits in with the rest of the ingredients, because those are all the toasty flavorful bits!
How to store toffee chocolate chip blondies
Like most baked goods, these blondies will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Why do you measure in grams?
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
A note on oven temperature
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
Tools and ingredients
8 inch square pan: I absolutely love USA pan products because none of my bakes ever stick to their pans. Here is their 8 inch square pan that I used.
Kitchen scale: the best thing that I ever purchased for recipe development and baking. Here is the one I currently use. It is a bit on the pricier side, but here is the one I used to use and is perfect for starting out!
Parchment sheets: perfect for lining your pans and for photography. I cut these in half when I use the 8 inch square pan, which makes it the perfect size for double lining the pan if desired!
Vanilla: I love using Rodelle vanilla extract. Not only is it a great quality product, but it’s on the lower end of the price that vanilla can be! This is the one I use.
For a full list of tools, equipment and ingredients that I use and love, you can check out this page here.
Did you make these toffee chocolate chip blondies?
If you made these toffee chocolate chip blondies I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Toffee Chocolate Chip Blondies
Ingredients
Homemade Toffee Bits
- 56 g unsalted butter (¼ c.)
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 100 g light brown sugar (½ c.)
Blondies
- 170 g unsalted butter (¾ c.)
- 250 g light brown sugar (1 ¼ c.)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 180 g all purpose flour (1 ½ c.)
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 90 g dark chocolate chips (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Grease an 8×8" pan with butter and line it with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized saucepan, add the butter. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally. Once the butter has melted, continue stirring occasionally until the butter begins to foam, turn amber in color, and you can see little dark specs in the butter.
- Remove the butter from the heat and set aside. While the butter is cooling off, make the homemade toffee bits.
Homemade Toffee Bits
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the butter, salt, and brown sugar to a small saucepan set over medium heat. Continuously whisk the mixture together until it reaches 300°F / 148°C. Immediately pour the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, then smooth and thin it out with a heat safe rubber spatula. Set aside to let it firm up for at least 10 minutes. While you're waiting, make the blondie batter!
Blondies
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the slightly cooled brown butter and brown sugar.
- Whisk in the eggs and vanilla vigorously for 1 minute.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Fold the mixture together just until a few flour streaks remain.
- Use your hands or a rolling pin to break up the toffee into little bits. Reserve some of the toffee bits for topping the blondies.
- Add chocolate chips and toffee bits into the blondie batter. Fold the mixture together just until no flour streaks remain.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Top with extra chocolate chips and toffee bits if desired. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the blondies have set and don't jiggle much when shaken.
- Leave the blondies to cool in the pan to room temperature before cutting. Serve, and enjoy!
These were delicious! The caramel flavor of the brown butter really comes through, and the toffee and chocolate are a perfect combination! I made these tonight and my whole family loved them. I am definitely saving this recipe!