Gingerbread Blondies
Updated Oct. 17, 2025
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup/225 grams unsalted butter, plus more for preparing the pan
- 1½packed cups/330 grams dark brown sugar
- 2tablespoons molasses
- 1tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- 2large eggs
- 2tablespoons vanilla extract (or bourbon or espresso)
- 2cups/255 grams all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- 2teaspoons ground ginger
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- ¼teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of ground cloves
- ¾cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)
- 2ounces white or dark chocolate, melted, for decorating (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
363 calories; 20 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 27 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 174 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-9-inch pan and line with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a small saucepan, heat the butter over medium until melted and flecked with darker brown bits, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour brown butter into a large bowl and add brown sugar, molasses and grated ginger. Whisk until combined (it won't look smooth) and let cool for a few minutes.
- Step 3
Add eggs and vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth and glossy.
- Step 4
Add the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, salt, allspice, black pepper and cloves. Whisk well to combine. Stir in nuts, if using.
- Step 5
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until the edges are firm but the center is still slightly damp, 18 to 25 minutes (add about 5 to 10 minutes if using a glass or ceramic pan). Do not overbake. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool. Let blondies cool completely in the pan.
- Step 6
Once blondies are completely cool, use a fork, spoon or filled parchment cone to decorate the top of the blondies with melted white or dark chocolate if you like. Let chocolate set for at least 2 hours before cutting into bars.
- Blondies will keep in a closed container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
Private Notes
Comments
If you add the dry spices to the browned butter (even before adding the sugar and molasses), they will bloom and you'll end up with an intensified aroma and better impact of the spices overall.
Drizzle with a sharp lemon icing instead of chocolate.
Another trick with parchment: If you line the pan with 2 strips at right angles, you dont need to grease the pan to hold them in place. Just use clothes pins, document clips, or chip clis to fasten the strips to the sides of your pan. Remove the clips after you sread the batter. The weight of the batter will keep the parch in place, and you may not need to wash the pan at all.
So easy AND festive. A perfect combination for low-stress holiday cheer, IMO.
Unbelievably tasty. I used a metal pan and a Breville oven to cook, which functions as a convection oven because it is so much smaller. I think that helped cook the middle enough to be moist, slightly under baked even, but definitely not raw. I used a dark chocolate drizzle, which you couldn't taste. I don't like white chocolate, so while it was pretty with a drizzle, I'd likely not bother next time. These were a favorite in a sea of Christmas desserts.
I took other commenters’ advice, increasing the recipe by 1.5x and baking in a 13x9” glass pan for about 35 minutes total. Really delicious! The one thing that surprised me was the batter was so thick it was almost a dough…but it came out very well, end to end. Edge pieces were a little denser/crisper and center pieces were cooked all the way through, chewy and fudgy. Def will bake again. Cut into 32 two-bite squares, great to take to a party.