Gluten-Free Blondies

If you’re looking to make one of the best gluten-free sweet treats known to man, stop here! These gluten-free blondies are for you. 

Isn’t it great that some of the easiest recipes are also the best? This one covers all the bases from buttery, chewy, and as gooey as you like them. 

I have to admit, I like them pretty gooey – I’m a center brownie/blondie kind of girl, you can have the corners. But the gooeyness is largely a function of baking time rather than the recipe itself, so it’s easy to adjust to your preference. And you’ll definitely find those instructions below in the printable recipe card. 

What is the difference between a blondie and a brownie? 

If you’re like me, maybe it took you a long time to finally try making blondies. After all, we know what brownies are – chocolate – but what makes a blondie a blondie? 

Essentially, that is the difference – the absence of chocolate. 

They’re both dense and chewy, and a great host for chocolate chips (and other flavored baking chips) and nuts.

But for blondies, instead of cocoa powder, we use vanilla extract and brown sugar for the flavor, giving them a rich, but subtle taste. 

What blend of gluten-free flours are best for making blondies? 

You’d be surprised by the variety of flours that work well for making gluten free blondies. I find what matters most is balancing the ratio of flour to starch. Too much flour makes a drier blondie, and too much starch makes a gooey mess. Thankfully, most flour mixes err on the side of flour rather than starchiness. 

Three mixes that have worked well in this particular recipe are: 

• A homemade blend of equal parts Judee’s qunoa flour, ivory teff flour, and arrowroot powder
• King Arthur’s All purpose gluten-free baking flour
• And perhaps surprisingly, Great Value brand gluten free baking blend. I’ve been experiementing with this one since it’s accessible to most people, and in this recipe, it’s a little stickier than the other two, but still works very well. 

Essentially, I’d be up for trying nearly any blend in this recipe except for those that rely heavily on coconut flour, or a nut flour just as almond. Those, especially the coconut flour, act completely different in baked goods, but if you are looking for coconut flour recipes, we have a really awesome coconut flour cupcakes recipe, as well as a whole page with coconut flour recipes.

Ingredients you’ll need

These gluten-free blondies are about as simple as you would expect, and you likely already have the ingredients in your pantry. 

Here’s what you need: 

• Gluten Free flour blend
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Butter
• Brown sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Chocolate chips (optional)

Substitutions and Additives

One of the fun parts of making gluten-free blondies is adding whatever you want to the batter. 

I really love chocolate chips, and my husband loves white baking chips and pecans. 

Here is a short list of ideas: 

• chocolate chips
• White chocolate chips
• Cinnamon chips
• Peanut butter chips
• butterscotch chips
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Marshmallows
• Dried fruit

In terms of substitutions, here are a few you can make: 

• Sub vegan butter or coconut oil to make these dairy-free. I usually use expeller pressed coconut oil in baking to keep the flavor neutral (though I personally love coconut flavored desserts such as this coconut meringue pie, some of my family don’t agree on that)
• Switch half the vanilla extract to almond extract
• Use white sugar instead of brown sugar. This will make your blondies slightly drier, and change the flavor just a bit

How to make this gluten free blondie recipe

Other than the ingredients, all you need for this recipe are two bowls (or one bowl, and one saucepan to melt butter on the stovetop), a whisk, and a baking pan. 

Here are the instructions: 

1. Melt butter and set aside to cool
2. While it cools, whisk eggs and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until it begins to get foamy
   
3. Add the butter and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated
4. Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing the three dry ingredients together on top a bit before stirring into the wet ingredients underneath.
   
5. I do this whole thing up to adding the flour with a whisk, then I find it easier to stir with a fork as the batter gets thicker
6. Lastly, stir in chocolate chips
   
7. Spread into a greased or parchment-lined 9×9 inch baking pan, and bake for about 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted halfway between the edge and center comes out clean.

If you want gooeyer blondies, bake them until the toothpick comes out with crumbs still on it. If you want cakier blondies, bake until the toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the blondies. 

After the blondies are done baking, remove them from the oven to cool and serve. 

These are great served with a little whipped cream or ice cream!

Can Gluten-Free blondies be frozen? 

If you have any blondies left over, you may want to freeze them for later. To do this, wrap them in plastic wrap, then foil, and seal in a ziplock bag and freeze.

You can store them in the freezer for up to three months. 

When you’re ready to thaw them, just place them, still in package, overnight in the refrigerator to thaw. It’s best if you can thaw them slowly like this, but if you need them pronto, feel free to let them thaw on the countertop. 

In either case, you’ll want to leave them wrapped in the package to avoid condensation making them soggy. The only caveat is that if you need them pronto pronto, you can unwrap them and heat them in the oven to thaw. In that case, most of the condensation will evaporate as they thaw. 

These are the perfect dessert to make and take to a potluck, and odds are other people at the food line won’t even guess they’re gluten free – they’re that good! 

You can even add red and green sprinkles to the top before baking to make them a lovely Christmas dessert for Christmas parties – or use other sprinkle colors appropriate for other holidays.

They’re also easy to make as a simple afternoon treat since they take so little time to whisk together and bake. If you’re like me, you like them hot out of the oven too, so they don’t take much time to cool before they’re ready to eat. 

More gluten-free recipes

• Gluten-Free peppermint cream brownies
• Strawberry lemon blondies
• Gluten Free lemon bars
• Gluten Free Brownie Bites
• Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

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