The Best Vanilla Brownies with Toffee and Pecans (Blondies)

Name: Vanilla Brownies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: ½ cup salted butter (melted); 1 cup packed dark brown sugar; 1 egg (beaten); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 Tablespoons lemon juice; 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; 1/8 teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt; ½ cup chocolate covered toffee baking bits (more for topping); ½ cup pecans (chopped)

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Vanilla Brownies are a blonde brownie bar with toffee bits and pecans. This classic dessert bar is so decadent that you will not be able to eat just one!

If you love eating sweet desserts but are not a big chocolate fan, this blondie recipe is just for you!

Table of Contents hide

1 Vanilla Brownies Ingredients

2 How to Make Vanilla Brownies

3 FAQs

4 VARIATIONS

5 Storage Instructions

6 Vanilla Brownies

Vanilla Brownies Ingredients

To make these chewy blondie bars, you will need the following ingredients (print the recipe below for detailed amounts):

Chocolate covered toffee baking bits: I used the Heath brand
Pecans: or walnuts
Salted butter: note that most blondies cookies and bars recipes call for unsalted butter. If you think these bars are too salty, you can use unsalted butter instead of salted butter.
Dark brown sugar: or light brown sugar
Lemon juice: fresh or from concentrate
Egg
Flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Vanilla extract

How to Make Vanilla Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix wet ingredients. Whisk butter and sugar together in a medium sized bowl. Add in egg, vanilla, lemon juice and whisk.
Mix dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir in heath chips and pecans.
Bake blondies. Pour batter into a greased or parchment lined 8×8 pan. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Add toppings. Sprinkle top with additional chocolate covered toffee baking bits when it comes out of the oven (optional).
Let cool and then cut into bars. Enjoy!

FAQs

How Long Do I Bake Brownies If I Double The Recipe?

Making this blondie recipe for a larger crowd? You can double this recipe and place the batter into a greased or parchment lined 9×13 pan. Simply double up all the ingredients and extend the baking time by 20-25 minutes.

Can I Use Light Brown Sugar Instead?

You can use all dark brown sugar, all light brown sugar, or a combination of both. Just make sure that you are using 1 cup of brown sugar total. Using dark brown sugar for these blondies leads to a more moist, richer, and sweeter bar.

VARIATIONS

Vanilla Brownies are a versatile dessert bar when it comes to what you can include. Here are some of my favorite combinations:

If your grocery store has regular and fun sized Heath bars, you can put them in a food processor and break them up into bits. I like the bigger chunks of toffee and chocolate.
Chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate will work)
Butterscotch chips
Dark chocolate chunks with a sprinkling of sea salt on the top of your bars
Chopped walnuts – you can add these by themselves or with another ingredient such as chocolate chips
Macadamia nuts with white chocolate chips (if you like this combination, try my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Cookies)

Storage Instructions

Room Temp: You can store blondies for 1 week at room temperature.

Freezer: Blondies freeze well. They can be frozen for up to 3 months when sealed in an airtight container. Make sure to thaw at room temperature before enjoying.