Soft and Chewy High Altitude Chocolate Chip Blondies

The best high altitude chocolate chip blondies that stay soft and chewy for days, with no mixer needed. These easy to make chocolate chip cookie bars are a treat the whole family will love!

You might also love these high altitude recipes for cookie butter chocolate chip blondies, coffee blondies, and salted peanut butter blondies.

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What are Blondies?

Blondies are a type of cookie bar that are sometimes called a “blond brownie”. While brownies are made with cocoa powder and melted chocolate, giving them a rich chocolate flavor and fudgy texture, blondies get their butterscotch flavor from brown sugar and vanilla extract. Blondies usually contain chocolate chips, and sometimes nuts like pecans or macadamia nuts, but they’re also great on their own without any add-ins. Basically they’re like chocolate chip cookies, baked in a pan and cut into squares, instead of baked as individual cookies.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy to Make. You don’t even need an electric mixer to make the best chocolate chip cookie bars. Since this blondie recipe uses melted butter, you can easily make the cookie dough with a bowl, whisk and spatula.

Soft and Chewy. These blondies have chewy edges with soft center pieces, and they’re just fantastic. Even days after baking, they’re still soft and moist.

High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• Butter. Keeps the blondies moist, and adds a rich, buttery flavor. If you use salted butter, you should reduce the added salt in the recipe.
• Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the edges of the blondies caramelize with a golden brown color.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
• Eggs. Add moisture, richness and strength.
• Flour. All purpose flour adds structure and strength.
• Baking Powder. Leavening agent.
• Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Chocolate Chips. I prefer semi sweet or dark chocolate chips, but use milk chocolate if that’s what you like.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line it with parchment paper.
• Melt the butter, then let it cool for 10 minutes.
• In a bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs for 2 minutes, until smooth and lightened in color.

• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and stir together with a spatula until all the flour is incorporated. If the dough feels a little warm, let it cool for 5 minutes, then stir in the chocolate chips and pecans.

• Spread the cookie dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for exactly 35 minutes, until puffed and golden brown on top.

TIP: If you like your blondies more gooey and under-cooked in the middle, bake them for 30 minutes. In testing the recipe, 30 minutes was a bit too underdone for me, though, and I prefer the 35 minute bake.

• Cool the blondies completely, at least 4-6 hours, before cutting into 16 squares. As the blondies cool, the puffed center will settle down a little.

TIP: If you make these a day in advance, let them cool for several hours until warm, then cover with plastic wrap to cool completely overnight.

Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use an 8 inch pan instead of a 9 inch pan?

If you use an 8 inch pan, your blondies will be thicker, and will need to bake a few minutes longer, or they’ll be raw in the middle.

Can I double this recipe for a 9×13 pan?

Yes, you can double this blondies recipe and bake them in a 9×13 pan. Note that I have not tested the bake times in any size pan other than the 9 inch square pan.

Will any type of chocolate chips or nuts work in this recipe?

You can add any chocolate chips you like (milk, semi sweet, dark, white, butterscotch, etc.) or nuts (pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, etc.). If you add more chocolate chips and nuts than stated in the recipe, though, you may need to bake the blondies for a few minutes longer.

How long do chocolate chip blondies stay soft?

Keep your leftover blondies in an airtight container to keep them soft and fresh for 3-5 days.

Can I freeze blondies?

Yes, you can wrap the cut blondies individually in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to 3-6 months. If you’re saving the whole batch for later, just wrap the uncut slab of blondies in several layers of plastic wrap, freeze for up to 3-6 months, then thaw to room temperature before cutting.

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