Christmas Blondies
With a buttery brown sugar base and loads of cheerful red and green M&Ms, these Christmas Blondies are a surefire way to fast-track holiday cheer. They’re soft, chewy, chocolate-packed, and best of all, easy to mix by hand in one bowl.
I’ve been inundated recently with social media memes of the exhausted Mom, struggling her way across the December landscape of party shuffling, gift buying, gift wrapping, card sending, cookie baking, menu planning, ornament crafting, lights hanging, Elf moving, and all around magic and merriment making. Sadly these memes resonate for a reason: it really does feel like a gauntlet, seemingly however much we try to “minimize” and “scale back” to what we know is really important.
The best method I have to accomplish all these things without becoming a grumpy monster myself is just to strategically choose easy wherever possible to fill these objectives. And these M&M Christmas Blondies are the perfect example. They check all the boxes I need, and maybe you, too.
- Super quick and easy to make. One bowl, mix by hand, no need to even portion out individual cookies. Just press into a square pan and bake.
- Festive and fun. Despite the ease of prep, these lack nothing in the Christmas cheer department. Red and green M&Ms do the trick there. Of course if you’re celebrating another holiday, the correctly color-coded spirit is only one seasonally-inspired bag of M&Ms away.
- Still extremely delicious. All this would be wasted if they didn’t taste good. Fortunately, these blondies are chewy, rich, sweet, full of chocolate, and universally adored by my taste-testers.
This recipe is adapted from my favorite chewy candy bar blondies, which in turn were adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, one of my most trusted cooking resources.
Make these to set out for Santa, to take to holiday parties, to gift with neighbors, to share at the cookie exchange, or just for a fun project with your kids in the kitchen. You won’t regret it!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Another reason to love these blondies is that they are made with everyday baking ingredients, so you won’t spend half the day trekking to the store. You will need:
- All-purpose flour. A friend of mine has successfully substituted a 1-for-1 gluten-free flour blend to make these blondies gluten-free!
- Baking powder and baking soda.
- Table salt.
- Butter. I typically bake with unsalted butter, but salted butter is just fine.
- Brown sugar. Light brown sugar is my go-to for blondies, to maintain that lighter color and flavor. Dark brown sugar certainly will work; it will simply impart more of a molasses taste.
- One large egg.
- Vanilla extract. Substitute 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste if you have it — you’ll get all the delicious aroma and flavor, plus beautiful flecks of vanilla bean seeds.
- Chocolate chips. While I like to use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips to complement the milk chocolate M&Ms, you won’t go wrong using any chips or even chocolate chunks. A mix of dark and white chocolate chips is always fun!
- Holiday M&Ms. Of course you can swap in any color or combination you like for different celebrations. Think blue and white for Hanukkah, pastel for Easter, or your favorite school or team colors for a graduation party or game day treat.
What are blondies?
Are blondies just blonde brownies? They are similar in many ways, but I’d argue brownies merit a dessert category all to themselves. Rather than relying on chocolate, a great blondie has a buttery, brown sugar, butterscotch flavor, and they tend to be rich and chewy, whereas brownies can range from fudgy to cake-like.
Chocolate, candy, pecans, and other nuts are all common blondie mix-ins. Here we’re using chocolate chips and M&Ms for a festive treat, but there is no reason not to swap anything you like into the base blondie recipe.
Tips & Tricks
- Reserve some M&Ms and chocolate to dot the top. For the prettiest bars, you will definitely want to press a few chocolate chips and M&Ms on top of the batter after it’s scraped into your baking pan and before putting it in the oven.
- Cool before cutting. Straight out of the oven, the blondies will be very soft and difficult to cut with straight edges. Try your best to wait until they are cooled close to room temperature before lifting them out of the pan to slice into squares.
- Add sea salt for an elegant touch. This is totally wasted on my children, but for adults and more refined youth, a sprinkling of flaky sea salt on top of the finished blondies adds a pretty sparkling effect and cuts the sweetness just a touch.
- Double the recipe to feed a crowd. Yes, you can double this recipe and bake it in a 9″x13″ pan. The baking time will be approximately the same–just start checking for doneness around 25 minutes.
- Customize the colors for special occasions. For major holidays, you can buy M&Ms in common color combinations at Walmart, Target, or nearly any large grocery store, but if you’re looking for something more specialized, considering ordering your own M&Ms in the exact colors you want straight from the M&M website. It’s pretty easy and extremely fun!
Storage & Freezing
Store these Christmas blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days. You may also enjoy them cold from the fridge or even the freezer, but this is just an option if you prefer the taste and texture this way. Chilling is not necessary for safe storage.
Related Recipes
Need more ideas for holiday treats? Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies, shortbread toffee bars, fudgy chocolate crinkles, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate-dipped almond biscotti, and eggnog sugar cookies are at the top of our list of family favorites.
Just love baking with M&Ms, any time of the year? You have great taste! These chocolate chip mini M&M cookies are a guaranteed home run with the young and young at heart.
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Christmas Blondies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar light or dark
- 1 large egg
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup red and green M&Ms
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and line a 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil for easy removal.
- In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir until evenly combined.1/3 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 large egg, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Sprinkle flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt over the mixture, and stir until just combined. The batter will be very sugary and thick.1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- Gently fold in most of the M&Ms and chocolate chips, then scrape out batter and press gently into an even layer in the baking pan. Press reserved M&Ms and chocolate chips into the top of the batter, for looks.1 cup red and green M&Ms, 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- Bake for 22-25 minutes. The top should be golden brown, and the edges may puff up slightly. Remove from the oven, and set on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into squares. Enjoy!
Notes
- M&Ms. Of course you can swap out the M&Ms for any other color or combination you like for different holidays or celebrations.
- Chocolate Chips. I prefer to use dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe, because M&Ms are milk chocolate and nicely offset by the slightly less rich taste of dark or semi-sweet. This said you really can’t go wrong tossing in any chocolate chips that you have on hand.
- Storage. Store blondies tightly covered at room temperature for 4-5 days. You may also enjoy them cold from the fridge or even the freezer, but this is optional for taste and texture, not necessary for safe storage.
- Recipe. Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.
