These Espresso Chocolate Chip Blondies are the ultimate fun treat! Made with real espresso powder AND espresso chocolate chips, these can replace your morning cup of joe with a fudgy, dense treat!
Happy Friday, friends! And what better to celebrate the weekend being here than baking up a batch of these Espresso Chocolate Chip Blondies?!
What is a Blondie?
If you didn’t know, blondies are similar to brownies – minus the cocoa powder and melted chocolate!
They also are more vanilla based instead of chocolate based. However, these blondies DO have chocolate chips because…chocolate makes everything better!
These are specifically delicious because they are espresso flavored chocolate chips! I found these on sale at the grocery store – they’re made with real coffee!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Well…..combining chocolate and coffee is one of the most underrated combos on earth! So then when you add in a fudgy dense blondie bar…you just can’t get any better!
Like I said above in the description, you can truly go ahead and skip your morning cup of coffee and just have these instead!
These are seriously so dense, fudgy and soft! They get that classic crinkly top and each bite is STUDDED with those melty espresso chocolate chips.
The coffee flavor is pronounced all throughout – and the browned butter….oh goodness. The nuttiness of the browned butter combined with the coffee flavor is an absolute WIN.
I actually want to start a petition to make a flavor of coffee like this – I would buy it in bulk!
Overall, pair a warm sliced bar topped with flaky salt with a cold glass of milk, I’m in!
Ingredients You Need:
Brown Butter – this is just melting butter in a pan until it gets foamy and browned!
Egg + Egg yolk – save the extra egg whites for your morning scramble the next day!
Instant Espresso Powder – this is a must have in this recipe for the coffee flavor!
Vanilla Extract – so much flavor!
All Purpose Flour – a must for this recipe!
Dark Brown Sugar – this specific sugar adds such depth of flavor.
Espresso Chocolate Chips – you will need to put the chips in the batter and save a few to stud the top with!
Salt – this helps combat the sweetness a little bit!
How to Bake Blondies in 5 Simple Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 glass pan with butter and then if desired, add parchment paper. Set that aside for now.
- In a large skillet on medium heat, add the stick of butter. Let it melt and then CONTINUALLY stir for 4-5 minutes until it has browned and the top is foamy. Pour this in a large glass bowl and scrape the pan with a silicon tool to get every bit of browned butter!!!
- To the bowl with the butter, add in the brown sugar and whisk to combine. Next, add in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Finally, add in the flour, pinch of salt and instant espresso powder and stir together with a wooden spoon until combined.
- Add the espresso chocolate chips to the batter and stir in. Spread the batter evenly into the pan and add a few more chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted in the middle and comes out mostly clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, add flaky salt if you want! When the 10 minuets is up, remove to a cooling rack. When mostly cooled, slice into bars and enjoy!
Best Baking Tips:
Be sure to let your oven preheat all the way!
Be sure to grease your pan properly! I used an 8×8 GLASS pan and I buttered it first THEN added parchment paper so I could easily remove it from the pan once it was done baking. Highly recommend!
Let these cool most of the way before you decide to slice into them! Of course it’s okay if they’re still a little warm…but they need time to set and cool.
When you are checking these to see if they are done or not, it’s best to use a toothpick. The toothpick should be inserted in the middle and should be MOSTLY clean when it comes out. It’s okay if there are a few wet crumbs on it.
You don’t want these to be overbaked…they become cakey and dry. Set a timer and CHECK them at 20 minutes first. If they still aren’t done, place them back in for a few minutes until you get the toothpick test.
Let them cool IN the pan for at least 10 minutes and then remove them to a cooling rack.
Ingredient Substitutions:
You can use unsalted butter in place of salted butter.
If you can’t find the espresso chocolate chips, you can just use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I used dark brown sugar for these, feel free to use light brown!
If you don’t have time to brown your butter, you can just use melted butter…but the brown butter has such incredible flavor and takes no time!!
Storing Leftovers:
You can store these in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days, although of course, they are best eaten within a couple of days! Enjoy!
Hope you guys absolutely love this treat as much as I do!!! XO -Haylie
NOTE: These do contain CAFFEINE, so I would not recommend giving them to children.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Espresso Chocolate Chip Blondies
These Espresso Chocolate Chip Blondies are the ultimate fun treat! Made with real espresso powder AND espresso chocolate chips, these can replace your morning cup of joe with a fudgy, dense treat!
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tbsp) salted butter, browned
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, 1 egg yolk
- 1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp instant espresso powder
- 1 cup espresso chocolate chips, separated (3/4 in batter, 1/4 on top)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8 glass baking pan with either butter or parchment paper. Set aside.
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In a large skillet on medium heat, add the stick of butter. Let it melt and then CONTINUALLY stir for 4-5 minutes until it has browned and the top is foamy.
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Once the butter is browned, add to a large bowl.
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Add in brown sugar and whisk to combine. Next, add in egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and pinch of salt and whisk together until fully combined.
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Next, add in the flour, salt and instant espresso powder and stir in with a wooden spoon.
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To the batter, gently fold in 3/4 cup of the espresso chocolate chips.
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In the prepared 8x8 pan, spread the batter out evenly. Gently push the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips into the top of the batter.
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Cook for 20-25 minutes. Begin checking at 20 minutes. These should be done when a toothpick can be inserted into the middle and comes out mostly clean. DO NOT overbake these! You want them dense and fudgy! Once done, if desired, sprinkle with flaky salt.
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Let cool for 10 in the pan and then remove to a cooling rack. once mostly cool, slice and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
NOTE: These DO have caffeine in them so I would not recommend serving them to children. Do NOT over bake these! They will continue to set up/bake in the pan as they cool.