These brown butter blondies have all the texture and richness that you’d find in a classic brownie, without the cocoa. Add in white chocolate chips for the best blondies ever!
To brown the butter, place both sticks in a medium-sized saucepan and melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter starts to foam and bubble, stir for approximately 3 minutes until you notice a darkening of the butter. Reduce the heat to low and continue stirring until brown specks start to appear. Remove from the heat source and allow the butter to cool to room temperature while you prepare the rest of the recipe.TIP - If you want to speed up the cooling process of the browned butter, simply place it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a metal square 9-inch baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment paper (to cover all 4 sides of the pan). Leave enough parchment paper to hang over the sides (this makes it easier to lift baked blondies from the pan). Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled browned butter with both sugars and beat for 2 minutes until the mixture is light in color.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing before adding the next egg. Continue to beat for an additional 2 minutes to get volume into the mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix until incorporated.
Slowly add the flour mixture (a little at a time) into the butter/sugar mixture and stir on low speed until just combined.
Stir in the white chocolate chips and transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan.
Evenly distribute the batter by pressing it into the baking pan, (making sure to get the batter into the corners).
Place the baking pan on the center rack in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes. 15 minutes into the bake time, check to see if the top is darkening, if so, cover the pan with tin foil for the remainder of the bake.
To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center, (it should come out free of batter), if not continue baking at 5-minute intervals, checking for doneness frequently.
Remove the blondies from the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack before removing them from the pan.TIP - To get a cleaner cut, it is best to let the blondies sit for an hour (or place them in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes) before cutting them.
Cut the blondies into 16 equal-sized squares and serve.
Notes
Spoon and level your flour instead of dipping a measuring cup straight into the bag. If the flour is measured too compactly, you'll end up with dense blondies. You can also use a kitchen scale to accurately measure your flour.
I like to sift my baking powder to get rid of any small clumps, before adding it to the flour.
It is important to properly measure out the brown sugar, too tightly packed and the blondies will come out hard and crunchy. Make sure to lightly pack the brown sugar or use a kitchen scale.
If you are short on time, you can simply add room-temperature butter to your stand mixer, beat it with the sugars, and continue following the recipe as written. Be aware that your blondies won’t have that subtle nutty flavor that you get by browning the butter but will still have all the richness.
If you would like to add nuts, I would suggest incorporating 1/2 cup. Or, you can use 1 cup of white chocolate chips and 1 cup of nuts for equal distribution.
Almond extract adds an extra touch of nuttiness to complement the browned butter, but you can substitute it with extra vanilla extract if preferred.
You can substitute the white chocolate chips with peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, semi-sweet chips, or use a combination of your favorites.