Vegan Blondies
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My vegan blondies are chewy, soft, and studded with gooey chocolate chips. They’re golden with perfect, crispy edges.
Why I love this vegan blondie recipe
Whenever my parents would take us to a bakery, blondies were ALWAYS my #1 choice.
Traditional blondies are made with eggs and butter, but I wanted to make a vegan-friendly version to share with some vegan friends. After weeks of recipe testing, I’ve done it! My vegan blondies are chewy and cakey, with golden edges and pools of half-melted chocolate chips. Here’s why I make them often (even as a non-vegan):
- Made with pantry staples. Unlike many vegan desserts, these have no niche or hard-to-find ingredients.
- The perfect texture. A little molasses is my secret ingredient for that soft, gooey center.
- Easy to customize. My local bakery added chocolate chips to their blondies, but of course, you can use different mix-ins to make them uniquely yours.
- Perfect for sharing. Anytime I’m hosting, I prefer to make bars. They’re easy to slice and transport, and because they’re vegan, everyone can enjoy them. They can also be made gluten-free.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“This was the best dessert I’ve made in a long time! I subbed out some of the chocolate for dried cherries; can’t stop thinking about how yummy it was! Thanks for a great recipe!” – A.Peelen
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
Here’s what goes into vegan blondies, along with my kitchen notes. Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
- Brown sugar. Gives the blondies a robust, caramelized flavor. Don’t use dark brown sugar, as it’s overpowering.
- White sugar. Keeps the blondies light in color and gives them crisp edges.
- All-purpose flour. I used gluten-free flour to keep this recipe gluten-free. I like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur GF blends (with xanthan gum). If you use another blend and it doesn’t contain it, add 1/2 a teaspoon. Of course, regular AP is great.
- Baking soda. Helps them rise.
- Salt. Brings out the sweetness, especially if you sprinkle some on top.
- Vegan butter. Opt for a high-quality brand. Trust me, it makes all the difference. My go-to brands are Miyoko’s and Country Crock. These two bake consistently well and are what I use in all my vegan recipes.
- Molasses. Optional, but it gives an even more gooey texture.
- Chocolate chips. Use a combination of vegan chocolate chips and a chopped-up chocolate bar so every bite is loaded with pockets of chocolate.
- Vanilla extract. A must for flavor!
- Egg substitute. I used a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons water), but I suspect a chia egg will work just as well. If you don’t follow a vegan diet, you can use 1 whole egg.
How to make vegan blondies
Step 1- Make the flax egg. Mix the flaxseed with water. While it gels, preheat the oven and line a square pan with parchment paper.
Step 2- Mix. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Using a stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then stir in the vanilla, molasses, and flax egg. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the edges are slightly brown. Let them cool completely before slicing.
Arman’s recipe tips and variations
- Avoid overmixing. Sometimes my blondies will sink in the middle if I overmix the batter. You only want to mix until you have a smooth batter with no lumps.
- Prefer cakey blondies? Bake them closer to 27-28 minutes.
- Don’t use different egg substitutes. I only tested flax eggs here, and they give the blondies the appropriate structure and chewy texture.
- Change up the mix-ins. Swap the chocolate chips for chopped nuts (like pecans or walnuts) or vegan white chocolate chips. My partner loves it with those.
Frequently asked questions
If the center is very wet, they likely need a few more minutes in the oven. The edges should look set, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs- not wet batter. That said, I intentionally underbake mine slightly because I love a gooey center.
Absolutely. In fact, I personally find them even better the next day once they’ve had time to firm up. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge if you prefer a fudgier texture.
Vegan Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour use gluten-free, if needed * See notes, 125g
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 flax egg ** See notes
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter softened, can use standard butter, if not vegan, 85g
- 1/4 cup white sugar 50g
- 6 tablespoon brown sugar 75g
- 1 tablespoon molasses Optional *** See notes, 15g
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips I used a mix of chopped chocolate and chips, 170g
Instructions
- Prepare your flax egg by combining 1 tablespoon of flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let sit for 10 minutes, for a gel to form.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line an 8 x 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix well. Set aside. In a separate bowl, add your sugars with the softened vegan butter. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together until combined.
- Add your creamed butter/sugar to the dry mixture. Add your vanilla extract, molasses (if using it) and flax egg and mix together, until just combined. Fold through chocolate chips, reserving a handful to top the blondies with.
- Transfer the batter into the lined pan and top with extra chocolate chips. Bake for 17-25 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Do not bake longer than 25 minutes unless you want cakey blondies. If so, bake for 28 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan completely, before slicing.
I had to add milk and my “batter” didn’t even fill up my 8×8 baking pan. I read the recipe over and over and can’t see what I possible did wrong.
Hi Marnie- sorry to hear that. What flour did you use? I’d love to troubleshoot and see what may have caused the batter to dry up a little.
This was the best dessert I’ve made in a long time! I subbed out some of the chocolate for dried cherries; can’t stop thinking about how yummy it was! Thanks for a great recipe!
Adding dried cherries is such. a good pairing with chocolate, A! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your lovely review 🙂
All 3 of the options use an 8×8 pan.. Would each require an added pan.ime to triple or is need to use 3 8×8 pans? No 9×13 pans?
Are you talking about tripling the recipe? You can use two 9 x 13-inch pans if you like, and just increase the baking time by about 5 to 10 minutes.
you basically just switched what’s usually not vegan to vegan, instead of makng it more affordable and accesible. Almost no recipe uses flaxseed to substitute eggs and it gets tastier without it and more simple. Also it’s not very common yet to fnd vegan butter everywhere, and it’s more expensive, you could have done with plant oil maybe. So I could just find a regular recipe and substtute eggs for flaxeed, butter for vegan butter and milk for plant milk etc, so I don’t see much sense in this vegan recipe sorry. Maybe in the next ones youd could do different? Maybe not idk If I’m the only on who thinks like this. I’m Brazilian btw
Hi Hector- you are right, this vegan blondies recipe does swap out traditional dairy ingredients with dairy-free counterparts. Unfortunately, to achieve the correct texture and flavor, vegan butters must be used versus others. I do try and make my vegan recipes as simple as possible, but that’s the fine line with it- balancing texture with cost 🙂 I hope Brazil gets more budget-friendly options soon- I know here in America we’ve had more affordable butter subs enter the market 🙂
I did not enjoy these. They were very oily, which is from the vegan butter, I assume.
Hi Laura- sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy them. What brand of vegan butter did you use and was it from a block (not a tub/spread)? I’d love to troubleshoot why they may have become oily versus rich and fudgy.
Greasy, not cooked, too many chocolate chips. Good taste, but the recipe needs some adjusting.
Hi David- thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it. If it came out greasy, I’m wondering if it was the brand of vegan butter you used? The amount of chocolate chips has been amended after testing- while 1 1/2 cups is great, 1 cup does yield a more consistent texture. I hope you try it out again 🙂
I make these blondies very often, as my sister is vegan. My mom and dad (who are not) have started requesting it too.
Hi Alex- how funny!! I love when diet-developed recipes taste as good as their traditional ones. Thanks for the lovely review!
Looking for an easy vegan recipe to try out for this week. Had anyone made this using another egg substitute (other than the flax)?
Hi King- several readers tried a chia egg successfully, whereas others have also tried an egg replacer (the pre-formulated kind from the grocery store). I haven’t tried either myself.
The ratio of leaders off. The blondies come out super thin. There is barely enough batter to fill out the pan. The baking powder makes them rise too much and then collapse. It’s a shame because the flavor is nice, but the recipe is a bit of a disaster.
Thanks for the honest review, Ms.V- I’m wondering if perhaps an ingredient you used could have caused this? These blondies have been made and loved by hundreds of readers- I’ve also gone in and updated the recipe card with metric measurements, for maximum accuracy.
Make quadruple! Yes they are that good…..
I love that, Adele- I’ve often doubled this recipe to use different mix-ins, but never done 4 x the amount. A challenge I’m accepting haha! 🙂