Raspberry And White Chocolate Blondies

These chewy, densely fudgy blondies are packed with white chocolate chunks and studded with tangy bites of raspberry. They have a rich, buttery flavor with a toasty, caramelized base and edges and a beautiful shiny top. It's a very easy recipe with a batter you can mix together in minutes. The hardest part is waiting for these blondies to cool! Easily substitute frozen raspberries to enjoy these decadent bars whenever you have the urge.

I have a big white chocolate bar in the pantry, strategically hidden behind the less appealing ingredients where my husband and kids won't find it. They're all huge fans of white chocolate, and my ingredients have been known to disappear right before it's time to make a recipe.

When I saw some fresh raspberries at the store, I jumped at the chance to combine them with the white chocolate into a batch of blondies. Upon tasting one, my husband insisted we could make our fortune packaging them for sale. It was a ringing endorsement from someone who's not a big dessert person, if a bit over the top.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Recipe Tips
• 📖 Recipe
• More cookie recipes

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter - using unsalted butter allows you to control the total quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand. Melting the butter makes this a really easy cookie recipe to whip together without a mixer. Using melted butter also gives you a more chewy, dense cookie.

• White chocolate - Part of the white chocolate is finely chopped and melted into the batter along with the butter and brown sugar, while the remainder is coarsely chopped and folded into the batter. I tested this recipe with both white chocolate chips and a good quality white chocolate bar. In short, both options work. However, the batch I tested using melted white chocolate chips didn't end up with that smooth, shiny top and had a slightly grainy texture to it. My Callebaut white chocolate bar contained sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, soy lethicin and natural vanilla. If you can find white chocolate chips with a similar ingredient list, they should work.

• Brown sugar - brown sugar helps make these blondies moist and chewy and gives them a wonderful caramel taste. Like the melted butter, it also results in a denser bar.

• Egg yolks - this recipe uses two egg yolks. The added fat and reduced moisture creates a richer, fudgier taste and texture. These truly do have a texture more like fudge, and less like a crumb, especially with the center pieces. If you prefer a slightly more cake-like blondie, use one whole egg plus one egg yolk instead.

• Vanilla extract - for added flavor.

• All purpose flour - Flour binds the batter together and provides structure. If you have a scale, I encourage you to weigh your flour for best results. Feel free to substitute all purpose flour with a cup for cup style gluten free flour if desired.

• Kosher salt - for enhanced flavor.

• Raspberries - You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries in this recipe. I have tested them both with equal success. If you use frozen berries, there's no need to defrost them first. Simply add them to the batter directly from the freezer. Frozen berries are a bit more resilient to being mixed into the batter.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Step 1: In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter, 60 grams of finely chopped white chocolate and brown sugar until butter and white chocolate are fully melted, 60-90 seconds. Whisk together until butter is well incorporated and the mixture looks smooth and glossy.

Step 2: Add egg yolks and vanilla. Whisk thoroughly.

Step 3: With a spoon or spatula, mix in flour and salt.

Step 4: Add 120 grams of white chocolate chunks and mix in until distributed throughout batter. Add raspberries and gently fold through batter.

Step 5: If your batter is still warm from the melted butter, it will most likely still be pourable. If so, pour it into the pan and distribute to the four corners. If it has cooled and become a thicker dough, scoop the batter into the pan in spoonfuls and gently press it into the corners.

Bake for 30 minutes, until center is fully set, top is golden brown, and bars are pulling away from the pan at the edges.

Hint: For best results (and neat slices), wait until the blondies are completely cool before cutting into pieces. They'll have a denser, fudgier mouthfeel if allowed to cool first so the butter and melted chocolate can set.

Substitutions

Can I use white chocolate chips instead?

This recipe calls for high quality white chocolate that is free from hydrogenated oils and fillers. Not only does good white chocolate taste a hundred times better, but also it melts more easily and has a smoother, creamier consistency. If you can't source white chocolate in bar, block or feve form, it is possible to substitute white chocolate chips. Please review the ingredient notes above regarding white chocolate; you can find some quality white chocolate chips. You'll want to read the label on the bag carefully. It's worth the extra time.

For example, the white chocolate block I used here contained only sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, soy lecithin, and natural vanilla. The ingredient list in several bags of grocery store white chocolate chips I looked at (called "white baking chips" because they can't be classified as chocolate) included the addition of palm kernel oil and palm oil, but no cocoa butter.

To learn more about often maligned white chocolate, check out this article from Serious Eats. As a dark chocolate aficionado, I confess I dismissed white chocolate for a long time until I realized I'd mostly been eating low quality white chocolate and unfairly judging it. I've since used it as a top layer in these no bake carrot cake bars, and as a crisp, white coating on these strawberry rhubarb ice cream bars.

Can I use frozen berries instead of fresh?

Yes, I've tested the recipe with both fresh and frozen raspberries, and both work equally well. If you're using frozen raspberries, do not defrost them first - keep them frozen.

Variations

Here are a few variations you could try if you want to change up these white chocolate and raspberry blondies:

• Lemon - add the zest of a large lemon to the batter for a bright and tangy citrus flavor. Lemon and white chocolate make great flavor companions.

• Berries - If you don't have raspberries on hand, substitute with other berries such as blackberries, blueberries or marionberries. You could also try dried cranberries if you don't have berries.

• Chocolate - Substitute the white chocolate chunks for milk or dark chocolate chunks, or use a mix of all three for triple chocolate blondies! I don't recommend replacing the finely chopped white chocolate that is melted and stirred into the batter as it will significantly alter the taste and color of the blondies.

Equipment

Glass and metal pans conduct heat differently. Glass bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and retains heat for longer once hot. Using a glass pan without adjusting this recipe might result in overbaked edges, as the batter will take longer to cook, and then might bake too quickly towards the sides. If you only have a glass pan, you may need to experiment with lowering the heat by 25 degrees Fahrenheit and baking for an additional 10 minutes. King Arthur Baking has visual examples of recipes tested using different pans here.

Use small or medium binder clips from the office supply store to keep the parchment paper lining the pan from falling down into the wet blondie batter. I also use them as bag clips to keep my pantry ingredients sealed.

Storage

Store cooled blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Alternatively, freeze the blondies in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers for 2-3 months.

Recipe Tips

If you make the blondie batter promptly, the melted butter will still be warm, and the batter will have a much runnier consistency. If you go slowly (or barely melt the butter), the batter will begin to firm up and turn into more of a dough like consistency (which is what you see in the photos, as the photography slowed the mixing process). I baked batches with the batter both thinner and thicker with no significant change to the final result. However, it was easier to fold the white chocolate and raspberries into the softer consistency batter and pour it into the baking pan. Just something to keep in mind.

📖 Recipe

Made this recipe?

Please leave a comment and a star review! Share it on Instagram with
@theflouredtable and #theflouredtable.

More cookie recipes

If you liked these raspberry white chocolate blondies, you'll enjoy these cookie and bar recipes too!