Blondies Brownies and Traybakes Recipes

Blondies with Homemade Salted Caramel

Salted Caramel Blondies

Original post published February 12th, 2018. Last updated on December 12th, 2023.

Everyone loves a brownie. But sometimes, chocolate isn’t what you’re craving. In those moments, a bite of white chocolate or caramel might just hit the spot.

These delicious blondies with homemade salted caramel will satisfy any craving! With a sweet brown sugar and molasses base and a thick layer of salted caramel slathered on the top, you’ll have a hard time keeping these indulgent blondies on hand for more than a day.

Salted caramel blondies and dish of sea salt on a sheet of parchment

Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel and a chef's knife on a white surface

Salted Caramel Blondies, a knife, and dish of sea salt on white surface

Looking down at a stack of salted caramel blondies

Salted Caramel Blondies, a knife, and a dish of sea salt

A Few Notes on Caramel

Do not attempt this recipe without a candy thermometer! This Taylor digital thermometer is my go-to, but any good quality probe willwork.

Caramel of any kind requires cooking to precise temperatures. Too cool, and you’ll end up with a runny caramel sauce better suited to topping an ice cream sundae than to slathering on top of a traybake. On the other hand, cook the caramel too long and your finished product will be a brittle, toffee-like hard candy, not a chewy caramel.

The temperatures indicated in this recipe (approximately 244-245° F / 118° C) will produce a caramel layer just firm enough to hold its shape on the top of the blondies, yet soft enough to slice and chew easily. You can experiment with slightly higher or lower temperatures to achieve a more fluid caramel (or a chewier one!), depending on the texture most to your liking.

Have a dish of water and a pastry brush on hand while cooking your caramel; use it as needed to wash down the sides of the pan. This will help to prevent the sugar from crystallising.

Salted Caramel Blondies in a stack on a white surface

Swaps and Shortcuts

As written, these blondies are topped with a homemade salted caramel. For a quick shortcut, you can also melt Kraft caramel candies (or similar) and spread these on top of the blondies, rather than making your own caramel.

If you aren’t a fan of salted caramel, you can omit the sea salt from the recipe and create a straightforward caramel blondie instead. However, the salted caramel does a nice job in cutting the sweetness of the blondie; I personally prefer this recipe with salt.

Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel, a knife, and sheet of parchment

Salted Caramel Blondies and a bowl of sea salt

Hand holding a salted caramel blondie

Salted Caramel Blondies and a bowl of sea salt

Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel, a knife, and bowl of sea salt

Caramel Blondie Storage Tip

If storing your blondies in a container, be sure to place parchment or wax paper between each layer. Otherwise, the sticky caramel will cause your blondies to stick together!

Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel, a bowl of sea salt and a knife

Two salted caramel blondies standing on edge, showing layers of blondie and layers of caramel

Salted Caramel Blondie on a white surface

Other brownie and blondie recipes you might enjoy:

White Chocolate Blondie Bites
Salted Chocolate Caramel Brownies
Mini Egg Blondies with White Chocolate Ganache

And if you make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I love to see what you’re making!

Salted Caramel Blondies on a wooden surface

Stack of salted caramel brownies

Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel, a dish of sea salt, and a knife

Salted Caramel Blondies and a chef's knife

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Blonde Brownies with Salted Caramel

Blondies with Homemade Salted Caramel


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  • Author: becky
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 16 squares 1x

Description

Delicious blondie bar cookies with a brown sugar and molasses base, slathered with a thick layer of homemade salted caramel sauce and sprinkled with coarse sea salt.


Ingredients

Scale

Blondies:

113 grams unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup / 1 stick)
1 egg
200 grams light brown sugar (1 cup, packed)
2 tablespoons molasses, or black treacle
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
145 grams all purpose flour (1 1/8 cup)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Salted Caramel:

125 milliliters whipping cream (1/2 cup)
45 grams unsalted butter (3 tablespoons)
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt (plus more for sprinkling)
140 grams granulated sugar (2/3 cup)
50 milliliters water (1/4 cup)
30 grams corn syrup, or liquid glucose (1 tablespoon)


Instructions

Blondies:

Preheat oven to 350° F / 175° C. Line an 8 x 8-inch square baking tin with parchment, spray lightly with cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat softened butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, brown sugar, molasses, milk, vanilla bean paste, and salt, mixing until well combined.

Add flour and baking powder to butter mixture, and mix until just combined.

Spread blondie batter into prepared tin, using a rubber spatula or damp fingers to evenly distribute the mixture. (Batter will be somewhat thick.)

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove tin from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

While blondies are cooling, prepare the salted caramel.

Salted Caramel:

In a small saucepan, warm cream, butter, and salt over low heat. (Do not boil.)

In a separate pan, combine sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, brushing down the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush as needed. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a medium caramel color (about 365° F / 185° C on a candy thermometer; your mixture should resemble honey.) This will take a few minutes, so be patient!

Remove pan from heat and pour warm cream mixture into the caramelized sugar mixture, then wait for a moment until the bubbles subside.

Return pan to medium heat and cook mixture to approximately 244-245° F / 118° C. (This will produce a caramel layer just firm enough to hold its shape on the top of the blondies, yet soft enough to chew easily!) Again, it will take a few minutes for the caramel to come up to the proper temperature, so be patient.

Pour caramel mixture over blondie slab, and use a spatula to spread evenly, making sure the caramel reaches all edges of the tin.

Sprinkle generously with coarse sea salt.

Sit aside to cool, at least one hour or until caramel has set. Remove blondies from tin and slice into 16 squares, and enjoy!

Layer blondies between sheets of parchment and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.

 

Notes

If storing your blondies in a container, be sure to place parchment or wax paper between layers. Otherwise, the sticky caramel will cause your blondies to stick together!

Do not attempt this recipe without a candy thermometer!

  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Brownies and Traybakes
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: Dessert

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