Salty Chocolate Chip Blondies

Salty Chocolate Chip Blondies are loaded with three kinds of chocolate chips and toffee pieces with a rich brown sugar, caramel flavor. Gooey and chewy, these bars make the perfect dessert or lunch box treat.

Admit it. Not everyone in your life loves chocolate. There are some people who just gravitate towards desserts that are more—well, vanilla. Like creme brulee, shortbread cookies, vanilla ice cream. And one of the best things about vanilla? It pairs well with so many other ingredients and flavors.

Kind of like these blondies.

Both the vanilla AND the chocolate lovers in your life will have something good to say when you serve these up. That's because the vanilla base is rich with brown sugar and toffee pieces yet it's amped up with three (!) kinds of chocolate. But before we get into all the good stuff in here, let's clear some things up about blondies.

Bars, blondies or brownies

OH MY!

Is a blondie a bar? Is a blondie a brownie? Or is a blondie just a blondie? Let's answer these one at a time:

• YES - A blondie IS a bar. They're typically cut into bar shapes and made in one pan that's usually square or rectangle in shape (because if you used a pie plate, then is it really a bar? Nope, that's more of a wedge). So a blondie bar could be another name for a blondie.

• NO - A blondie is NOT a brownie. A brownie has cocoa or melted chocolate in its base thereby turning the whole base brown. Hence the name. A blondie has a blonde base. Hence its name. Actually, the word on the block (or the bar) is that the blondie might have been the first brownie when molasses used to be the main ingredient back in the late 1800s. And if you have to have a brownie, these Triple Chocolate Brownies just might do it.

• YES AND NO - A blondie is just a blondie. Unless it's this blondie. And then it's the life of the party. Or the lunch box.

Can blondies have chocolate?

Let's settle this once and for all. Blondies can have chocolate. White chocolate, dark chocolate, extra dark chocolate, semi-sweet or milk. No question: blondies do some of their best work of satisfying when chocolate is part of the story. And this recipe is loaded with THREE. KINDS. And that spells V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.

Cakey, chewy or gooey

Another area where the blondie differs from the brownie is texture. These White Chocolate Chip Blondies have that magical soft center that speaks butter and butterscotch all at the same time. Using only brown sugar plays a big role in the flavor (and makes it an authentic blondie) while the toffee bits give a little unexpected crunch.

Blondie Ingredients

So what other ingredients make these blondies extra special?

• white chocolate chips
• chocolate chips ( I use a mix of dark and semi-sweet)
• toffee pieces or crumbled toffee bars (like Heath or Skor)
• butter
• flakey sea salt because you need a topping with a little punch
• the usual suspects like vanilla, eggs, flour, and brown sugar.

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Steps for baking

1. Like most bar, brownie or cookie recipes, this blondie recipe starts with blending your dry ingredients and setting them aside while you mix up your softened butter and brown sugar.
2. Next, you're going to add your eggs—one at a time, of course—making sure that they are well incorporated before adding the next one. And then lastly, throw in that extra yolk for a little more chewy, gooey-ness. Go ahead and scramble up the egg white for your avocado toast. No one will be the wiser.
3. Now it's time for the dry ingredients and the butter/sugar mix to meet up and make some blondie magic. You're going to mix these on low so that:
   • you don't overmix the flour resulting in a tough texture
   • you don't make a mess that ultimately you'll have to clean up and eating the blondies is far more fun than cleaning up a flour storm.
4. The dough should look smooth like this when it's all mixed together.
5. And last but not least, you're going to add all that chocolate. Go ahead just throw them in the bowl along with the toffee pieces. You could even get crazy and add some pecan or walnut pieces. I won't tell.

Now the trickiest part of making this recipe is getting it in the pan because of how sticky the dough is.

That is actually a good thing for the "licking the bowl part" that comes later. But not a good thing if you're actually trying to get the blondies into the pan and bake 'em.

What's a blondie maker to do?

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The method

I find the spoon and plop method to be the most efficient way of spreading the batter (dough? - hmmm, which is it? Sounds like a post for another day).

Back to the spoon and plop....

• Take big spoonfuls of dough and strategically place them in the pan [1].

• Then... take a flat spatula and spread them all together [2].

Pretty simple, huh?

Baking secrets

• The secret to getting that chewy, gooey blondie is to slightly underbake the bars. Of course, you don't want them to be raw in the middle.
• Sprinkle the white chocolate chips over top right before baking. They don't get added into the batter. Just on top.

Now—to figure out the difference between dough and batter. Have one of these bars while you think about it.

Variations

Here are a few add-ins that would be right at home in this recipe:

• peanut butter
• oatmeal
• butterscotch chips
• chocolate chunks
• coconut
• nuts

Tips

For a few:

• Divide the recipe and half and use an 8x8 pan instead of the 9x13.
• Make the whole recipe and freeze half for later.

For a crowd:

• Make the full recipe and using a sharp knife, cut them into smaller squares 1 ½" x 1 ½" or thin bars (1" x 2").