Cinnamon Blondies! The ULTIMATE soft & chewy cinnamon blondie! Easy dessert recipe.
These cinnamon blondies are loaded with spicy cinnamon in every bite. Warm and gooey in the center, crackly on top, and dusted with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. These bars smell heavenly while baking, and taste even better!
What is a Blondie?
A blondie is basically a brownie. The difference being that a blondie doesn’t contain cocoa and is comprised of more brown sugar which provides a rich depth of flavor thanks to the molasses. Plus the moisture from the brown sugar provides blondies a bit more chewiness.
A slight under-baking will ensure that the centers are nice and gooey while still being cooked and safe to eat. I found that baking between 25-30 minutes is prime time for taking these out of the oven. How gooey you want them to be is really up to you and what time you take them out. At 25 minutes you will need to give them some time to cool before cutting since the center will be very gooey. At 30 minutes these bars have more of a solid, almost cookie/cake like texture.
Personally 28 minutes in my oven gave the perfect texture for me.
After the bars have cooled and you go to cut into them you will notice the very top of the bars is like a crust. So as you cut the crust will slightly crack, which is absolutely gorgeous!
More Easy Dessert Recipes to Enjoy:
Cinnamon Blondies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Equipment
- 9x9 baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with foil. Grease the foil with baking spray or butter. Set aside.
- In medium bowl mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- Add the brown sugar and butter to a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium low to medium heat for about 5 minutes or until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool for approximately 10 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the flour mixture. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 mins. Bars will be very gooey in the center at 25 minutes. They will be more cake like at 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small bowl. Brush the top of the bars with the melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Lift the bars out by holding the foil and set to continue cooling on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Adapted from a recipe in Better Homes & Garden magazine, 100 Best Cookies.
**This recipe has been updated as of February 13, 2018. There were comments that the recipe was turning out too dry for some. The changes in the recipe of reducing the amount of flour and shortening the bake time should prevent any of those problems!
I love this recipe! These bars are so flavorful and chewy!
Quite disappointed as it came out to be cake-like after 25 minutes of baking. I followed the recipe and made a few changes by adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of espresso powder. This shouldn’t drastically change the consistency of the blondies. Was aiming for a gooey brownie blondie but it came out as a dry soft sponge cake. Taste wise, it was okay.
Hey! This recipe is great! I made some tweaks to spice amounts (because I’m a rebel and don’t know how to follow directions :P) and used a 9×13 pan because it was what I had. This isn’t a criticism at all but I figured I’d offer it up as a reference point for anyone who may be in that predicament. At 25 minutes in a 9×13 pan for my oven they were more like the cakey/brownie texture described at the 30 minute mark in 9×9 pan. They were still very good when they came out of my oven and not at all dry! However, if you’re looking for a more gooey consistency and you only have a 9×13 I would probably aim for the 15-20 minute marker and just keep an eye on it. These things are delicious either way! 😀
This recipe looks great! I’m thinking of making the batter at my house and baking it a relatives for a dinner part tomorrow so they’re fresh and warm when we’re ready to eat dessert. Would this change the texture of the blondies?
Hi Shannon! I love the idea of pre-making the batter. I don’t know if it will change the texture though, since I haven’t done that before. It’s possible that it will, since a lot of the air will have worked it’s way out of the batter overnight I imagine.
How gooey is very gooey in the center? I did have to use an 8×8 pan but they have been baking for almost an hour now and when I poke the middle with a knife they are like basically the texture of the butter and brown sugar mix (like before you add the eggs and dry ingredients)
I know you won’t be able to answer this right now but just for future reference, just in case these ones don’t come out right.
Great recipe though, super easy to make and they do smell so delicious while they are baking.
Hmm.. It’s so hard to know when I’m not there to see. But you should see the top is baked. It’s just the middle that is a bit gooey. But once they sit out and cool they firm up.
These were a huge hit all around. I added 1/4 tsp salt, about 1/4 tsp allspice and about 1/2 tsp nutmeg to the dry ingredients. I was told these were some of the best desserts I’ve made and to put them at the top of my “go-to” list. Thank you!
Mine are baking right now, great recipe but I added 1/4 tsp salt too the dry ingredients. Gotta have a little salt.
They’re in the oven now! Midnight cooking but they smell so good I don’t think our apartment neighbors will mind!
Why mine is not crack like yours ? cuz I didn’t put sugar on top ?
Mine always crack when I cut them when they’re still warm. If you wait until they are completely cooled they don’t do crack.
Made these for the family and they loved them. I didn’t heat the sugar and butter on the stove, just mixed it up with the eggs, added the dry ingredients to the wet and put it in the oven.
Will definitely make these again !!
So glad you enjoyed them!
I just made these this afternoon and I was a bit disappointed. I followed the directions, made no substitutions, the only thing I did different was to double the recipe and bake in a parchment lined 9×13 pan. I took them out at the 40 minute mark, cooled them on a wire rack, but they were terribly dry. Maybe if I underbaked them (taking them out at the 30-35 minute mark) they would’ve been a bit more moist?? I don’t know. These bars tasted more cake-like to me. I think with some vanilla ice cream this may be better but on their own, to me, it’s just not what I was expecting.
With baking, doubling the recipe doesn’t always give the same results. Especially with changing the size of pan you’re baking in, keeping the same baking time. You can’t expect to achieve the same results. I’m so sorry that your changes to the recipe didn’t give the results you were hoping for.
Could I add chopped apples to these?
Hi Elly! Due to the texture of these, (they are made mainly with brown sugar and butter!) I don’t think they would hold up well with fruit added. A recipe that is more cake-like would be much better!
Is there a way to make them nondairy using oil or margarine instead of butter?