Salted Caramel Blondies
I think it’s funny that over the last 10 years or so, certain desserts have gone in and out of style. Cupcakes were the new big thing, then macarons, then cake pops, then salted caramel, then stuffed cookies, then… you get the idea. I don’t know about you, but when I like something, I just like it. For life, usually.
Salted caramel has definitely had its turn on the food trend carousel, and while it seems to have died down, I am still going all-in on it. I love to keep a jar of salted caramel sauce in the fridge for impromptu ice cream sundaes or for days when I feel like a blondie should be more than a blondie.
I generally find plain ol’ blondies to be a bit too much on the buttscotch-y sweet side to eat plain. I quickly resolve any issue by throwing copious amounts of add-ins into the batter. Chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, candy… you name it, and I’ll add it. I love, love, LOVE the contrast that salted caramel sauce gives to my favorite sweet and salty brownies, and decided the same would probably work for blondies.
It worked like a charm! Each sweet bite gets a salty counter-punch, which I love. These blondies are fabulous as-is, but I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to add some chopped up dark chocolate. Fad or not, I’m going to be eating salted caramel all the live long day. Pass me a spoon!
One year ago:Â Zeppole
Three years ago: Waldorf Salad
Salted Caramel Blondies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 cups (440 g) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup (113 ml) salted caramel sauce, warm
- Fleur de sel, or flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- Place the melted butter in a large bowl and whisk in the brown sugar until completely dissolved. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Add the flour mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula until all of the dry ingredients are completely incorporated.
- Press half of the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Pour the salted caramel sauce onto the center of the dough and spread into an even layer, leaving about a ½-inch of space around the edges. Drop the remaining cookie dough in spoonfuls over the caramel and gently spread the dough with an offset spatula until the caramel is covered. Sprinkle the bars with fleur de sel.
- Bake the blondies for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a thin coating of caramel. Cool the bars on a wire rack to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the caramel layer to set. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Those are butterscotch Blondie’s using brown sugar. If you want salted caramel blondies use white sugar. Huge difference. I love brown sugar but hate butterscotch.
I love this recipe it is amazing and easy once you get the hang of it, sometimes i add chocolate chips to add dimension to the amazing flavor.
These taste great, however I would change a couple of things. One, use parchment paper instead of foil. Parchment will pull away much easier. Two, cut the recipe in half so it cooks more evenly in a 9/9 pan.
I agree, I also used parchment paper, and used a bigger pan.
Hi,
I just made these and they came out a bit soggy.
The cake part looks done, but the caramel sauce really drenched the cake. I put in the amount specified in the recipe and I let the caramel set in the fridge.
Any thoughts on how to make them less soggy? Maybe less sauce?
Hi Tina, Hmm they definitely should not be soggy. I would try using less sauce and see if that helps!
I had the exact same problem. I think the recipe is too large for that pan size.
Made these, but should’ve taken them out a bit earlier! Turned out a bit dry after being in the oven for 25 mins – I read the previous comments and thought they could do with longer but I was wrong!
How do you make your blondies turn chewy (well, like a brownie, you know) and not cakey? I’ve tried to make them but they turn out has a flat cake…just that, nothing special :(, just like a vanilla cake :/ …pff
I had that problem once, i used a little more caramel and left it in 3 mins longer.
I’ve made salted caramel blondies before using a different recipe, but they never held together and would taste great, but were much chunks. I just made these tonight as my parting gift to my temp office as I leave to start my full-time job, they taste amazing and hold together perfectly! I think because I used a 9×13 instead of 9×9 I didn’t have quite enough batter to cover the caramel with, so the caramel is more mixed into the blondie, but again they taste great so not even a problem! My ONE issue is that they’re a little greasy. I’m just an amateur baker so this isn’t really a criticism so much as an inquiry into how I might reduce the grease in the future? A little less butter, maybe? The right size pan? Would love feedback from anyone on this!
I’ve also made the caramel sauce a few times on its own and its great. Your recipe and tips are the best and helped me to stop burning it, so now I can always get it to turn out, even without a candy thermometer. Make a half portion, put it in little jar, and it’s a cheap, easy gift to give to friends for holidays or birthdays. I lightly spread some extra sauce on top of the blondies after they were done and sprinkled just a little sea salt on top to give it that extra kick. Hope my coworkers like them!! Thank you so much for your site!
Recently, my wife brought home some “coffee-house” style salted caramel bars from the store. The whole family loved them, but they were a bit pricey. So I decided we needed to try to make out own. Initially, I could not find any recipes out there that looked quite right (I was looking for bars, not blondies). Then I decided to switch up the search and stumbled upon yours. Went and bought the needed ingredients that day but due to birthdays and other issues, did not get around to making them until today.
First, the salted caramel, just by itself, was incredible. Just about every utensil used in the making was licked clean :-)
I wasn’t sure how well the caramel layer was supposed to be covered by the top blondie layer, so there was a good bit of caramel showing through. It did take a little longer for mine to bake, also. And they seemed to take a long time to cool down sitting on the wire rack.
But oh my goodness they were fantastic! Better than the storebought ones! I’m really glad I made a double batch (going to take some to work on Monday).
I am so bummed after making these. had to cook for 40 minutes and the inside is nothing short of an oily goo. I followed the ingredient amounts and instructions exactly. Really disappointing.
Just doing those – but instead of salted caramel I opted for lyophilized raspberries and white chocolate chips *keeping my fingers crossed for the next 30mins*! It’s my Blondie Summer Version – in winter I will do the salted caramel ones since salted caramel is to die for.
Hi. Loved your recipe. The salted caramel sauce in the middle is a great addition. I found it rose too much, making it more a cake than a brownie, but tasted great anyway. I’m going to try it again tonight with just 1 teaspoon of baking powder. R
Don’t be afraid to love what you love is pretty much my life motto. And I do love salted caramel. Always and forever.
Looked delicious but failed. The 9″ pan ran over with ingredients in my oven. There was no way I could test with a toothpick when it looks like fudge cooking in the oven. A soupy mess of sugar now sits on my counter. 2 cups of brown sugar baking in a 9″ pan?
Hi Michelle – once again your recipes are certainly making me famous in my office!:p
I did however read another’s comment-cortney and did experience what she did. It did need longer baking time which was no biggie, and my Carmel layer bled into my brownie layers. Any suggestions to the fix the bleeding issue. I did use regular store bought Carmel sauce. Also it was hard to spread to the top layer. BUT they still were gobbled up in minutes!! Thanks for your time into your love of food!
Desserts trends are definitely on the move but I agree, when I like something I like it and will make it regardless of the food trends. My taste buds don’t care about being trendy! These blondies look perfectly dense and awesome.
I’m all for the salted caramel too! I love it! Your recipe looks delicious! Would you mind if I used it, translated it into Greek and put it on my blog? I’ll obviously credit you and link back to your blog! These blondies look so divine, it would be a shame if my blog followers in Greece didn’t get a chance to taste them! I’ve been a fan of your blog for quite some time now, you’re such an inspiration! xoxo (foodaki.gr)
I am so with you. I don’t like a food just because it’s trendy. I also love caramel and love baking it into blondies. It’s been too long since I’ve made caramel blondies.
Wow, these blondies look so tasty!
I wonder if you could just use caramelized white chocolate in your white chocolate brownies to get caramel blondies. It might be less messy. Either way, caramel baked in to anything has to taste good!
I just tried the recepie an it just doesn’t work. I’m nornaly a good baker, but the blondie wasn’t cook after 40 minutes. I turned my oven to convection after 30 minutes and it finally brown on the top. I respect the colling time but my pièces are ugly because the edges are taller than the center and they are too gooey. The taste is great, but the apparence is bad and the texture si not right (I had the cookie texture mixture ne fore cooking) .
Hi Michelle – I’ve never made blonde use before and tried these tonight. I was curious what should the batter consistency be? When I saw the direction of pressing it into the own, I think I messed it up. My batter was a little thin, not quite like a brownie batter. I wonder if I could have used a little bit more flour.
Hi Andrea, The batter is rather thick, like a cookie dough almost.
Oh dear Lord! I made these yesterday … had to cheat ever-so-slightly as did not have time to make caramel sauce so (shock! horror!) used a jar of Hershey’s Caramel Sauce with a pinch of sea salt … but other that it was SO totally perfect and is just to die for! Thanks so much for sharing.
I made these today. Absolutely amazing. Is there a difference between regular caramel sauce and salted caramel? I also added dark chocolate chips. I could eat the entire pan in one sitting!
Hi Megan, The biggest difference between regular caramel sauce and salted caramel is the addition of the salt, but I also think that salted caramel sauce is cooked a little bit darker than traditional caramel sauce.
I tried a salted caramel bar at New Seasons one time and trust me – I am just one of those people that just don’t like caramel but when I had this bar it changed my mind!!!
These look awesome! Nothing better than salted caramel!
Gah!! These look so lovely! Can’t wait to try!
These looked so good yesterday on my newfeed, so I decided to whip some up (I always keep salted caramel sauce in the refridgerator since I like to take GOBS of it and eat it!)
I wanted to comment because I have made tons and tons of your recipies – many are in my go-to book – and this is the first one where it didn’t bake exactly like you said. I had to add an extra 15 minutes onto the cooking time so I’m wondering what I did wrong! They still turned out fabulous (as expected) but a bit dark on the top and the caramel soaked into the batter instead of making a gooey layer. (Which I am fairly certain is also me… Do you have any good tips for spreading the top layer of batter over the caramel? I have this problem with caramel brownies too where instead of a middle layer I end up with the filling squishing through or bubbling up onto the top layer.
Thank you for all your recipies! We certainly enjoy them in our house!!
Yes, yes, yes!!!! You have combined two of my favorite things!! I agree with you, salted caramel was never destined to be a passing fad in my book. Trends come and trends go but salted caramel is here to stay! Pinned!
Blondies are one of my favorite desserts! I can’t wait to try this blondue with a twist!, Thanks!
Could not wait to make these! Made them this evening after a special stop at the store for heavy cream.
EPIC FAIL! It was a complete liquid mess in the middle-but the brownie part cooked nicely LOL! Guess I’ll need to make another run at this recipe over the weekend :).
Hi Jenn, I’m so sorry these didn’t work out for you. They definitely should not be liquid in the middle. Did you cool completely and then refrigerate?
Thanks so much for reaching out to me! I figured out what I did wrong….I put ALL of the Salted Caramel Sauce into the brownies instead of just the 1/2c. the recipe called for LOL!!
I knew it was something boneheaded like that-your recipes Always work out perfectly for me. Yours is one of my favorite sites & I consult it first when looking up recipes :)
Thank you again & I will repost this weekend when I make them the correct way ;),
Jenn
UPDATE: I made these again today with 1 modification. I removed the salt from the brownie batter & put them on a pretzel crust. I used the “proper” amount of caramel this time :), baked them just a little longer & they are Delicious!!! Just as expected but with a little crunch. I accidentally got some of the pretzel crust incorporated into the dough which turned out fine. Just make sure you don’t add extra salt from the bottom of the pretzel bag :) As always – another fabulous recipe from BEB!! Thanks!
This happened to me too but it’s because I used a 9×9 pan instead of a 9×13! I had forgotten and I just did it again!
Woo-Hoo! These look divine! I will be gorging myself on these all weekend!!
These look incredible… I’ve only tried Blondies in Ben & Jerrys ice cream – NEED to make these.
Laura: a Lifestyle Blog
Perfect recipe.. I will definitely make it!
Caramel anything is right up my alley and these blondies will definitely be added to the list of recipes to try. Yum!!
Blondies are one of my most favorite desserts. And you can never ever go wrong withe caramel. I need these!
Salted caramel will NEVER go out of style! At least, not in my world.
The texture looks fabulous. Chewy and gooey! And I totally agree: always have salted caramel in your fridge! I sometimes eat it with a spoon…
Somethings never go out of style, and I think salted caramel is one of those things!
Just found your blog and can’t wait to try all of the great recipes you have on here! Everything looks so yummy!
Salted caramel will always be in the top 5 of my list of favorites, and I’ll add it anywhere I can. These blondes look AMAZING!
I love every single thing about these!!!!
I will never stop loving salted caramel! These look amazing!
Oh my goodness! SO in love with these, Michelle!
I don’t think I’ll ever be over salted caramel! Love the idea of adding some chopped dark chocolate!
I love salted caramel so these have to be amazing! The gooey caramel on the bottom of the bars looks to die for! Pinned! :)
I have never really been a Blondie fan… but that’s obviously because I left out the caramel and salt… thanks
Yes, yes, yes. I cannot get enough salted caramel and blondies are quite possibly the most wonderful food invention ever!
My first thought when I saw this post was “Why did I give up sweets for Lent”!!! This will be the first recipe I make after Lent. It looks wonderful!
Salted caramel is good on everything and these blondies are no exception! They look delicious!
Yum! I’ve been on such a salt kick lately (salting everything, it seems – what is Pink Himalayan Sea Salt NOT good on?) Perhaps it stems somewhat from seeing all these delicious salted recipes on my feed, and these blondies certainly are of that category! I imagine these to be incredibly wonderful straight out of the oven…
Love salted caramel desserts!
Could you use this recipe with chocolate chips (or other things, like sprinkles) and omit the caramel sauce, for just chocolate chip blondies? I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Hi Sophie, Definitely!
Thank you so much Michelle! I can’t wait to try this version and all of the different versions of blondies you could make from this recipe! You’re an amazing baker!
I love blondies and I love salted caramel…like 3 of my next 6 recipes are salted caramel (whoops…bad planning…but oh well!). Pinned these babies from my phone the moment I saw them :)
I want to turn this in to pie now! I still love salt on any sweet treat; chocolate or caramel they will have my heart forever!
I have problems trying to keep salted caramel in my fridge or rather should I say I just can’t stop eating it it’s so good!
I love salted caramel (and always will!). Gorgeous!
Michelle, I totally agree about food trends! True love lasts forever, and salted caramel and I are a match made for eternity :)
What is your technique for cutting brownies and bar cookies so beautifully with no crazy edges?
Hi Susan, I use a large pizza cutter (OXO brand) to slice through all of my bar desserts. It makes super clean slices!