These butterscotch blondies are the reason there's always a secret stash of foil-wrapped squares hiding behind the frozen peas in my freezer. My kids still haven't found them.
They're the same easy melt-and-mix method as my Biscoff Blondies and Lemon Blondies, just with a caramel-y butterscotch base and a crackly, salty top that disappears fast.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Butterscotch Blondies
🕒 Ready In: 5 minutes prep + 20-25 minutes baking + cooling
👪 Serves: 20 pieces
🍚 Calories: 192kcal per piece
🥣 Main Ingredients: butter, brown sugar, eggs, plain flour, butterscotch chips
📖 Dietary Info: freezer-friendly, easily halved or doubled
⭐ Why You'll Love It: one bowl, no mixer, and a crackly, salty top everyone ends up fighting over.
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These look amazing!
- Nahid Bin Zaman
This slice never makes it more than a day in our house; my husband eats them straight out of the freezer before they've even thawed, foil and all, practically.
If you're on a butterscotch kick, try my Butterscotch Self-Saucing Pudding next, or stick with blondies and go for my Banana Blondies with Caramel Frosting or Raspberry & White Chocolate Blondies.
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Why You're Going To Love This Recipe
- One bowl, no beaters - melt, mix, bake. Genuinely done in under 30 minutes.
- Tastes like a caramel slice had a baby with a brownie, in the best possible way.
- Freezer-friendly, so there's always an emergency stash for school pickup or surprise visitors.
- Conventional or Thermomix, both methods are written straight into the recipe card below.
Blondie Ingredients
You only need a handful of pantry staples for these, plus a couple of extras that are worth getting right.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredient quantities and full detailed method.
- Brown sugar - this is what actually gives you the butterscotch flavour, there's no real butterscotch in a butterscotch blondie, it's just butter and brown sugar doing the heavy lifting. Dark brown sugar gives a deeper, more molasses-y flavour if you like that, but light brown sugar is what I use most weeks and it's still spot on.
- Butterscotch chips or Caramilk chips - totally optional, but they melt into these little gooey pockets through the blondie that I genuinely can't go without now. Can't find them? White chocolate chips work as a swap, or just leave them out altogether.
- Sea salt flakes for sprinkling on top are also optional, and also non-negotiable in my kitchen. That hit of salt against all the brown sugar sweetness is the whole reason these taste like more than just a basic slice.
Variations
- Add some crunch: stir ½ cup of chopped pecans or walnuts through with the chips.
- Brown the butter first for a nuttier, deeper caramel flavour; just let it bubble a minute or two longer than usual until it smells toasty and turns golden. It's a genuinely different blondie, and the one I make when people are coming over.
- Swap the butterscotch chips for white chocolate chips, or leave them out completely for a plainer, more classic blondie.
- Gluten-free: swap the plain flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. I've made this version for my sister-in-law plenty of times, and honestly, you can't tell the difference.
- Feeding a crowd? Double the mixture into a lamington tin (roughly 20cm x 30cm) and add a few extra minutes to the bake time. Or if it's chocolate you're after instead, my Easy Brownies use almost the exact same method.
How To Make Butterscotch Blondies
Six easy steps, and about 5 minutes of actual hands-on work.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredient quantities and full detailed method.
- Step 1: Melt the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Preheat the oven and line a square tin with baking paper. Place the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and salt into a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second bursts, stirring between each, until the sugar has almost dissolved.
- Step 2: Add the eggs. Let the mixture cool slightly so you don't scramble the eggs, then whisk them through until fully combined.
- Step 3: Fold through the flour. Sift in the plain flour and baking powder and gently fold through, just until combined, don't overmix or you'll end up with a cakey blondie instead of a fudgy one.
- Step 4: Stir through the butterscotch chips. If you're using them, fold the butterscotch or Caramilk chips through the batter now.
- Step 5: Pour into the tin. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread it out evenly, then sprinkle over the sea salt flakes if using.
- Step 6: Bake. Bake until just cooked through, then leave the blondies in the tin to cool completely before slicing, they'll keep firming up as they cool.
Recipe Tips
- Don't overmix once the flour goes in, or the texture turns cakey instead of fudgy.
- Pull them out at the 20-minute mark for a proper fudgy centre. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs on it, not clean, and definitely not wet.
- The one time I left these in for closer to 30 minutes because the netball final went into extra time, they turned into caramel bricks. Still got eaten, but lesson learned: set a timer and don't trust the smell test with this one.
- If the top is browning too fast, loosely tent a piece of foil over the tin and keep baking.
- For an extra indulgent treat, serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It turns an afternoon tea slice into a proper dessert.
- Storage: keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 if your kitchen runs warm; mine does over summer, so I move them to the fridge from about November onwards.
- Freezing: freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or a couple of hours on the bench, or microwave a piece for about 10 seconds to bring back that just-baked gooey centre.
Butterscotch Blondies FAQs
Yes, they freeze brilliantly. Once completely cool, pop them into an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw them on the bench for an hour or two, or overnight in the fridge if you're organised (I never am).
Two likely culprits, overmixing once the flour goes in, or leaving them in the oven a touch too long. Fold the flour through gently until just combined, and pull them out at the 20 minute mark if you want that proper fudgy centre, a few moist crumbs on the toothpick is exactly what you're after.
No. The butterscotch flavour in these blondies comes from the butter and brown sugar, not the chips, that's genuine butterscotch chemistry, not a trick. The chips just add extra gooey pockets through the blondie. Skip them, swap in white chocolate chips, or use Caramilk chips instead.
Definitely, they're actually better the next day once the flavours settle. Bake them up to 2 days ahead and store in an airtight container at room temperature, or freeze further ahead and thaw before serving.
This usually means they came out of the oven a touch underdone. Blondies firm up as they cool, so if the centre was still quite wobbly when the tin came out, it won't have had enough structure to hold once it starts cooling. Give them the full bake time and check with a toothpick about 2-3cm from the edge of the tin, not dead centre.
More Blondie Recipes You'll Love
If you're as hooked on the blondie method as I am, here's a few more worth working through:
Butterscotch Blondies
Ingredients
- 225 g (1 cup) butter
- 330 g (1 ½ cups) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- pinch of salt
- 2 egg large, room temperature
- 225 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup butterscotch chips or Caramilk chips optional
- sea salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan-forced) and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper. Set aside.
- Place the butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes in 30 second bursts (50% power) until the sugar has almost dissolved and the ingredients have combined - stirring each time.If using a Thermomix - Place the butter into the Thermomix bowl. Melt for 3 minutes on 80 degrees, Speed 2. Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and repeat for a further 10 seconds.
- Allow to cool slightly.
- Add the eggs and whisk until combined.If using a Thermomix - Add the eggs and mix for 10 seconds on Reverse, Speed 4. Scrape down the sides and repeat.
- Sift the plain flour and baking powder into the bowl and gently fold through.If using a Thermomix - Add the plain flour and baking powder and mix for 5 seconds on Speed 4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and repeat.
- Stir through the butterscotch (or Caramilk) chips, if using.Pour into the prepared baking tin.Sprinkle over the sea salt (optional).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.TIP: If you notice the blondie is over-browning, simply place a sheet of foil loosely over the top and continue baking.Leave in the tin to cool completely.
Notes
- Don't over mix - mix until just combined, otherwise your blondies can become cakey.
- Don't overcook the blondies - otherwise they will become dry.
- For fudgy/moist blondies - cook for 20 minutes and test with a toothpick which should come out with moist (but not wet) crumbs on it.
- If you notice the blondie is over-browning - simply place a sheet of foil loosely over the top and continue baking.
- The blondies will continue to cook as they cool.
- For an extra indulgent treat - serve the blondies warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Storage - store blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing - freeze in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave the slices in a container in the fridge overnight, or sit them at room temperature for 1-2 hours.
Nahid Bin Zaman says
These look amazing! Ever thought about adding a dash of cinnamon for a twist?
Lucy says
Great idea!!