White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
Part brownie, part cookie, these White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies are 100% delicious! These easy to make White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies feature toasty, nutty brown butter in the batter, as well as little sweet morsels of white chocolate and chopped salted pistachios for a little nutty crunch! The blondies are the definition of melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
What is a ‘Blondie’?
I like to think of Blondies as the cousin of cookies! Most blondie recipes, including this White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies recipe, are quite similar in both process and ingredients to cookie recipes! As brownies are similar to chocolate (not chip) cookies, blondies are similar to chocolate chip cookies, with their use of butter, sugar, flour, leavener, and eggs. While blondies are different to cookies in their physically appearance , they are also slightly different in other ways. Blondies, like brownies, typically contain less flour than their cookie counterpart, making for a slightly wetter dough! Due to the presence of less flour, the final product is actually more chewy, tender, and softer than cookies!
Like with cookie recipes, the add-ins and variations available to blondies are pretty much unlimited in scope! You can add chocolate chips, like a traditional blondie, or nuts and white chocolate, like I used in this White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies recipe. You could get crazy and add marshmallows for a s’mores-flair, or even coffee or liquor for an adult-twist!
WHAT IS BROWN BUTTER?
If you have ever smelled butter browning, then you know exactly why it is used in many of my recipes! The process of browning the butter, involves the separating of butterfat and milk solids. The milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and begin to undergo the Maillard reaction due to the heat, essentially caramelizing the milk solids. What is created is butter that is deep in color and rich in flavor. The Maillard reaction causes the butter to take on a taste that is reminiscent of nuts and caramel. Making it absolutely perfect for the flavors in these White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies!
Browning butter is actually quite easy, so do not be intimidated! You want to add the unsalted, cubed, room temperature butter to a small sauce pan over medium heat. Then essentially boil the butter and continue to boil, stirring constantly to promote even cooking, until the colour is a beautiful nutty brown and ultra-fragrant. It is important to note that after browning the butter, it is essential to let it cool though. I simply pour the brown butter into a measuring cup and place it in the fridge or freezer to cool. When ready to use it should still be liquid but room temperature. This will take about 25 minutes in the freezer.
How to Make the White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
1.Brown the butter: In a small pot, add the butter, and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Continue heating the butter turns a nice chestnut color. When ready, remove from heat and place into the freezer to cool off for 25 minutes.
2.Beat sugar and brown butter: Add the slightly warm brown butter, white sugar and brown sugar, to a stand mixer and beat on medium-high, until well combined.
3. Add eggs and vanilla: Add in vanilla, then add the eggs. Turn the stand mixer to medium-high and beat the mixture for 3 or so minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy looking. The purpose of this is to incorporate some air into the batter, which aids in leavening!
4. Whisk the dry ingredients together: In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk them together until well incorporated.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl: Carefully pour the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl, then beat on low, until the mixture is just combined and smooth. Don’t overbeat!
6.Add pistachios and white chocolate: Throw in the chopped pistachios and white chocolate chips into the batter and fold them in with a spatula.
7. Bake: Add the batter into a 9” square baking pan, smooth it out, and then bake!
8. Glaze: After the White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies have baked and cooled, drizzle the white chocolate overtop, top with chopped pistachios, and cut into squares to enjoy!
Get the Recipe: White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
Ingredients
White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
- 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature, cubed
- 1 ¾ cups (220g) All Purpose Flour, , measured correctly†
- 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup White Sugar
- 1 Large Eggs
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 cup White Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 cup Roughly Chopped Unshelled Salted Pistachios,, plus more for garnish
White Chocolate Glaze
- 1 cup White Chocolate,, finely chopped
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies
- In a small sauce over medium heat, add butter and bring to a boil. Continue heating over medium heat, constantly stirring until the butter has turned a nutty brown color. It may be hard to see the color if your butter is foaming a lot, so periodically take it off the heat to check the color. Remove from heat, place into a heat proof glass and then into the freezer to cool off for 15-30 minutes. When ready, the butter should still be liquid and just barely warm to the touch.
- Preheat oven to 325°F, and prepare a 9” square baking pan with parchment and cooking spray. Next, in a medium mixing bowl, add flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together to combine, then set aside.
- Add cooled brown butter, white sugar, and brown sugar to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until well-combined and smooth.
- Add in vanilla, eggs, and egg yolk, and turn the stand mixer on medium. Mix until well-combined, then turn the stand mixer to high and beat for another 3 minutes, or until the batter looks light and fluffy.
- Add in the dry mixture and mix on low until combined, scraping at the edges. Ensure it is well combined, but do not overmix. Add in the white chocolate chips and pistachios, and fold with a spatula until well dispersed.
- Place batter into baking pan, spread it out evenly, then place into the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes. When ready, the White Chocolate Pistachio Blondies should start browning on the edges. Let cool completely before drizzling with chocolate.
- Drizzle the white chocolate (instructions below) over top of the blondies, and then sprinkle the blondies with chopped pistachios. Cut the blondies into 16 equal pieces.
White Chocolate Glaze
- Add chopped white chocolate to a medium-sized pyrex measuring cup. Place into the microwave to melt for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir. If the chocolate isn’t fully melted, place back into the microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in-between, until the chocolate has melted.
