What Is a Blondie? Blondie vs Brownie Explained
What is a blondie? A blondie is a chewy, dense traybake made like a brownie but without cocoa or melted chocolate in the batter. Its flavour comes from brown sugar, butter and vanilla, which give it a golden colour and a butterscotch taste. It's baked in a tin, cooled and cut into squares or bars, often with white chocolate or nuts stirred through.
At a glance
- No cocoaa blondie's batter is built on brown sugar, butter and vanilla
- Butterscotchthe classic flavour, and an old name: "butterscotch brownie"
- 1896Fannie Farmer's early brownie recipe was based on molasses, not chocolate
- 1.2gnet carbs per serving of our Salted Caramel Blondie Mix (pack label)
On this page
Search for "blondie" and you'll find a band and a hair colour before anything to eat. This guide is about the bake: the golden, chewy squares that sit next to the brownies in coffee shops. Here's what a blondie is, how it differs from a brownie, and how to enjoy one with no added sugar.
What is a blondie?
A blondie is a traybake made in much the same way as a brownie: a thick batter of butter, sugar, eggs and flour is spread into a tin, baked until just set, cooled and sliced into squares. The difference is what's left out. A brownie gets its colour and flavour from cocoa powder or melted chocolate. A blondie has neither in the batter. Instead, it relies on brown sugar, butter and vanilla, which bake to a pale golden colour and a rich, caramel-like taste.
Wikipedia's entry describes it simply: a blondie, also known as a blonde brownie or butterscotch brownie, is a dessert bar from the United States that's based on brown sugar and vanilla rather than chocolate, which keeps it light in colour. The main ingredients it lists are flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla.
Is a blondie a cake, a bar or a cookie?
Somewhere in between. In the US, blondies are sold as bars, so you'll often see "blondie bars" on menus and in American recipes. In the UK we'd call the same thing a traybake. If you're asking what a blondie bar is, it's simply a blondie cut into a rectangle rather than a square. King Arthur Baking classes both blondies and brownies as "cookie bars". A "blondie cake" is much denser and chewier than a sponge, with very little rise and a slightly soft middle.
What does a blondie taste like?
A good blondie tastes buttery, sweet and toasty, with a flavour most people describe as butterscotch or caramel. That comes from the brown sugar: it carries a little molasses, which gives deeper, toffee-like notes than white sugar. (Our guide to demerara sugar vs brown sugar explains where that molasses comes from.) Vanilla rounds it out, and a pinch of salt stops it tasting flat.
The texture matters as much as the flavour. A blondie should be dense and chewy, a bit like the soft centre of a cookie, with a thin, slightly crackled top. King Arthur Baking's blondie recipe melts the butter with the brown sugar before the eggs go in, which helps the sugar dissolve and gives the bars a shiny top. In a guest post for King Arthur Baking, the founder of Blondery, a blondie bakery, explains that the bakery boils the butter and sugar into a caramel syrup first, for a deeper flavour and a chewy texture.
Blondie vs brownie: the differences
Put a blondie and a brownie side by side and the method is almost identical. The main difference is the flavour base, and that changes the colour, the sugar and the add-ins that work best.
| Blondie | Brownie | |
|---|---|---|
| Flavour base | Brown sugar, butter, vanilla | Cocoa or melted chocolate |
| Colour | Pale gold | Dark brown |
| Sugar | Mostly brown sugar | White or brown sugar |
| Fat | Melted butter | Butter, oil or chocolate |
| Texture | Dense and chewy | Fudgy, chewy or cakey |
| Add-ins | White chocolate, nuts, caramel | Nuts, chocolate chips |
Based on King Arthur Baking's blondie recipe and brownie guide, and Wikipedia's blondie entry. Recipes vary, so treat this as typical rather than fixed.
Brownies come in more textures because, as King Arthur Baking's guide to types of brownies explains, cocoa powder absorbs liquid while melted chocolate makes a fudgier bake. Most blondie recipes aim for the same dense, chewy middle.
Which should you bake? If you love chocolate, a brownie. If you prefer caramel, toffee or butterscotch flavours, a blondie. Our keto chocolate brownies recipe and our avocado chocolate brownies cover the chocolate side.
Where blondies come from
Blondies are American, and the story is a nice twist: the original brownies were closer to blondies. According to Wikipedia's blondie entry, which draws on Saveur and other food historians, the word "brownie" didn't at first mean only chocolate bakes. The earliest known general brownie recipe, recorded by Fannie Farmer in 1896, was based on molasses rather than chocolate.
Chocolate brownies became everywhere in the early 1900s and took over the name. By the middle of the century, the molasses-based versions were being called "blonde brownies", later shortened to "blondies". "Butterscotch brownie" is another name for the same bake.
Popular blondie flavours
Because the base is a mild butterscotch flavour, blondies take add-ins well. The Blondery founder argues in the King Arthur Baking post that blondies are more versatile than brownies, and lists flavours such as red velvet, cinnamon sugar, strawberry rose and, the bakery's most popular, pecan and salted caramel. The flavours you'll see most often in the UK are:
- White chocolate. The classic pairing: its creamy vanilla taste suits the butterscotch base.
- Salted caramel. Flaky salt on top makes the toffee notes stand out.
- Nuts. King Arthur Baking's recipe stirs chopped pecans or walnuts into the batter and scatters more on top.
- Dark chocolate chips. King Arthur Baking uses semisweet chips in its chewy chocolate chip cookie bars; our dark chips work the same way.
- Fruit. Raspberries or cherries add colour and a sharp edge.
If you're baking with chips, our complete guide to keto chocolate chips covers how different chips bake and melt. For a drizzle on top, see our guide on how to melt chocolate.
How to tell when blondies are done, and how to store them
Blondies are easy to overbake, and an overbaked blondie turns dry and cakey. Like brownies, they should come out slightly underdone in the middle. Look for these signs:
- The top is shiny and set, and golden rather than pale.
- The middle is still a little gooey but not liquid. King Arthur Baking says a toothpick or knife pushed into the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs, but no raw batter.
- The edges feel firm. Bon Appétit's guide to brownies and blondies says the edges should be firm, even slightly crisp, while the surface feels soft when pressed and doesn't spring back.
Then leave them alone. King Arthur Baking's advice is to cool blondies completely before slicing; a warm blondie squashes under the knife.
How long do blondies stay fresh?
King Arthur Baking suggests storing leftovers well wrapped at room temperature for up to a week, and freezing them for longer storage. An airtight tin or container works well. For a mix or a recipe, follow any storage advice on the pack or in the method.
Line the tin with baking paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Once the blondies have cooled, lift the whole slab out and cut it on a board with a long, sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts.
Blondies with no added sugar
A traditional blondie is mostly brown sugar, butter and flour. King Arthur Baking's recipe uses 426g of brown sugar and 180g of flour for one tin. That's a lot of sugar, so a classic blondie doesn't fit a low-carb way of eating. You can still get golden, caramel-flavoured squares in two ways.
Use a blondie mix
Our Keto Salted Caramel Blondie Mix is made with almond flour and coconut flour instead of wheat flour, and sweetened with erythritol and stevia instead of sugar. The ingredients list starts with erythritol, almond flour, chicory root fibre and coconut flour, followed by pink salt, baking powder, flavouring, xanthan gum and stevia. You add 2 eggs and 130g of butter, spread it in a lined tin and bake. The pack makes around 12 servings, and the nutrition table gives 1.2g net carbs per serving (carbohydrate minus polyols, as the label shows it).
For extra flavour, stir in a handful of our No Added Sugar White Chocolate Chips before baking. They're made with cocoa butter and milk powder, sweetened with erythritol and stevia, and come in a 210g pouch. Chopped pecans or walnuts work well too.
Bake from scratch
If you'd rather bake your own, the sugar is the part to swap. Our Brown Erythritol & Stevia Blend is made from erythritol, stevia and caramel, and its product page says it swaps 1:1 for brown sugar. Combine it with almond flour in place of wheat flour for a lower-carb blondie. Almond flour and sweeteners don't behave exactly like wheat flour and sugar, so start from a tested recipe. Our post on sugar substitutes for baking compares the options.
Fancy a single portion instead of a whole tin? Our Salted Caramel Mug Cake Mix brings the same flavour to a one-mug bake. And if it's chocolate you're after, there's our Keto Chocolate Brownie Mix. We offer free delivery on orders over £30.
The Salted Caramel Blondie Mix contains nuts (almonds), and you make it with eggs and butter. The White Chocolate Chips contain milk. Always check the pack for full allergen information.
Frequently asked questions
Is a blondie the same as a brownie?
No, but they're close relatives. Both are dense, chewy traybakes baked in a tin and cut into squares. A brownie gets its colour and flavour from cocoa or melted chocolate. A blondie leaves chocolate out of the batter and relies on brown sugar, butter and vanilla, which give it a golden colour and a butterscotch taste.
What does a blondie taste like?
A blondie tastes buttery and caramel-like, a flavour often described as butterscotch, because the batter is built on brown sugar, butter and vanilla. The texture is dense and chewy, a little like the soft middle of a cookie. Add-ins change the flavour, with white chocolate, pecans, walnuts and salted caramel among the most popular.
Why is it called a blondie?
The name describes the colour. Early American brownies weren't always chocolate: Fannie Farmer's 1896 recipe, the earliest known, was based on molasses. Once chocolate brownies took over the name in the early 1900s, the pale versions became known as blonde brownies by the mid-1900s, and the name was later shortened to blondies.
How long do blondies stay fresh?
King Arthur Baking suggests storing leftover blondies well wrapped at room temperature for up to a week, and freezing them for longer storage. Let them cool completely before slicing and wrapping. If you're using a mix or a recipe, follow any storage advice on the pack or in the method, and keep them airtight.
Are blondies made with white chocolate?
Not always. A classic blondie needs no chocolate at all, as its flavour comes from brown sugar, butter and vanilla. White chocolate is a popular add-in, though, because its creamy vanilla taste suits the butterscotch base. Chopped nuts, salted caramel, dark chocolate chips and fruit such as raspberries are common choices too.
Sources
- Wikipedia. Blondie (confection): definition, alternative names, main ingredients and history (citing Saveur and others).
- King Arthur Baking. Blondies recipe: ingredients, method, doneness test and storage.
- King Arthur Baking. I'm a pro baker, and I think blondies are better than brownies (2021): "cookie bars", the caramel-syrup method and flavours.
- King Arthur Baking. Types of brownies: fudgy, chewy and cakey explained (2025).
- Bon Appétit. How to tell when literally every baked good is done: brownies and blondies.
- Groovy Keto product pages: Keto Salted Caramel Blondie Mix, No Added Sugar White Chocolate Chips and Brown Erythritol & Stevia Blend (ingredients, nutrition, pack size and allergens). Checked 28 October 2026.
