These dark chocolate cranberry blondies start with Kristin Hoffman’s Master Blondie recipe found in her cookbook Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Cookbook. In her cookbook, she shows several ways to spruce up and flavor her Master Recipes. These vanilla blondies are wonderfully dense and chewy with plenty of dark chocolate and dried cranberries, plus a hint of fresh orange zest. Recipe below!
Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book
Are you familiar with Kristin “Baker Bettie” Hoffman? She’s a trained chef and baking educator, runs the popular blog Baker Bettie, and just authored her debut cookbook. Publishing a cookbook, as you can guess, is an enormous feat but publishing Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book is an accomplishment like no other. This unique cookbook is broken into 2 extensive parts. Part 1 lays the groundwork for baking success. You’ll find step-by-step methods, carefully explained tutorials, and information on the role different ingredients play.
Having this knowledge brings you into Part 2 where you’ll find dozens of customizable master “foundation” recipes such as master bread doughs, sweet quick bread, savory quick bread, scones, biscuits, muffins, cakes, cookies, fruit pies, brownies, and more. Kristin shares her base recipes for these popular items and endless ways to customize them with flavors, add-ins, spices, herbs, and/or garnishes. You have flexibility and creative control!
This cookbook is perfect for beginners and seasoned bakers alike and you can read more about Kristin’s book over on her website. (While you’re on her website, you’ll find an abundance of baking tutorials and recipes. Her bread making tutorial is excellent.)
No baking detail has been spared! In her book, you’ll find step-by-step photos, plus images and weight + volume ingredient measurements for every recipe.
Kristin says: “This book is the one that I wished I had when I was first learning. I wrote it so that other bakers have a practical resource that connects all the dots and shows how baking science, mixing methods, and master recipes all work together to create endless beautiful baked goods.”
And guess what? I authored the foreword for this book! It’s been a few years since I wrote a cookbook (I’m actually working on a proposal for my 4th!!!) so I was very honored that Kristin asked me to be part of this incredible project. I value her approach to teaching others onlineโshe does so in such a familiar and friendly wayโand have been a fan of hers for years!
Purchase Kristin Hoffman’s Cookbook
One reader, Alli, commented: “Loved these bars and they were really easy to make. They are rich with the dark chocolate chunks, but the cranberries and orange zest balance out the richness. The texture of the bars was soft and chewy, too. I put half the batch in the freezer because they were too tempting for me! Will make again! โ โ โ โ โ ”
Let’s Make Kristin’s Blondies!
There are 36 master recipes in this book and 100s of variations! Her blondies stuck out to me because they looked so rich, so buttery, and so irresistible. Kristin hands us plenty of options for flavoring our blondies including extracts, spices, nuts, oats, and other mix-ins. My mind swirled with possibilities, and I chose dark chocolate, dried cranberries, + orange zest. What a delicious combination and especially this time of year!
These dark chocolate cranberry blondies were an instant hit.
- Here’s What We Thought: Taste testers and I loved the base flavorโbrown sugar, butter, and extra vanilla. I love these white chocolate cranberry cookies, so I originally tried them with white chocolate and dried cranberries. Here however, we all loved the dark chocolate version more because it toned down the sweetness. (Just like it does in these dark chocolate cranberry almond cookies.) Orange zest adds a little fruity freshnessโand its flavor really stands out on day 2โbut you could definitely skip it if desired. The texture is dense and chewy with slightly crisp edges. Truly like a vanilla version of a chocolate brownie.
Kristin explains that we use the One Bowl Method for Cookies to make these blondies. She says, “The One-Bowl Method is typically utilized for cookies and bars with a chewy texture, which includes brownies and blondies as well as some forms of drop cookies. This method is extremely forgiving due to the fact that butter and sugar are not being creamed together, which requires much more attention to the process.”
Since Kristin’s cookbook recipes are so versatile, I thought it would be fun to show the blondies baked in a round cake pan instead of the traditional square pan. Bake time was the same and the wedge pieces are like blondie slices of pizza. You’ll love it. I use this same wedge method for my shortbread cookies, too!
If you like to get creative with baking recipes, this book is a goldmine!
I hope you enjoy these flavorful blondies and if you have a moment, check out Kristin’s new cookbook. I know many of you appreciate learning the science behind baking recipes and this cookbook is full of it! ๐
By the way, this recipe joins 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipesโready in 1 hour or less!
Print
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Blondies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 33 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 9 large or 16 small squares (or 12 wedges)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These vanilla blondies are wonderfully dense and chewy with plenty of dark chocolate and dried cranberries, plus a hint of fresh orange zest. They’re made from Kristin Hoffman’s Master Blondie recipe found in her cookbook Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150g) light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1ย largeย eggย +ย 1ย egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) kosher salt
- 1 and 1/3 cups (160g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (130g) bittersweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks (see note)
- 3/4 cupย (105g)ย dried cranberries
Instructions
- Prep: At least 30 minutes before baking, take the eggs out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. Measure out the rest of the ingredients. Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.ย Position an oven rack in the center position. Preheat the oven to 325ยฐF (165ยฐC).ย Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan or 9-inch (23 cm) round pan with parchment paper or grease with non-stick spray.
- Blondies: In a large mixing bowl whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and orange zest and whisk until well incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- Add the baking powder, salt, and flour to the mixing bowl and use a silicone spatula or mixing spoon to stir together until well combined. Stir for about 30 seconds to purposely develop a little bit of gluten, which will give your blondies more chewiness. Fold in the chocolate and dried cranberries.
- Transfer the mixture into your prepared pan and spread evenly.ย
- Bake for 28-33 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.ย
- Set the pan on a cooling rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing into squares. Since I use a cake pan, I slice into 12 wedges.
- Store leftover blondies at room temperature in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: To freeze, it’s best to cool the blondies completely. Cut into squares/wedges and layer between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Pan or 9-inch Round Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Cooling Rack
- Extra Egg Yolk: You need 1 whole egg + 1 extra egg yolk. The extra egg yolk promises a chewier, denser texture. Without it, blondies can taste a little dry and sandy.
- Chocolate: For the dark chocolate, I use a coarsely chopped 4-ounce bittersweet chocolate baking bar. You can find these in the baking aisle next to the chocolate chips. A bittersweet, dark, or semi-sweet chocolate bar or chocolate chips/chunks work. Feel free to replace with white chocolate.
- Reprinted with adaptations with permission from Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious as always! I loved the combination of the orange and cranberry flavors next to the chocolate. The only issue I had was that my blondies took much longer to bake than what is listed.
These are the best blondies! They are chewy and moist and I love the tart cranberries with the rich chocolate. So good!
Unfortunately no one at work liked these..few people said they were ok. Maybe with milk chocolate or white chocolate chips may be better. Texture was good though.
Needed a dessert for a community event where there will be many sweets, so I wanted something a little different. These are perfectโa slight holiday vibe with the cranberries, but also the essential chocolate. Super easy to make, and they came out exactly as described. Looking forward to sharing them if I can hold off eating them all myself!
These are incredible!! And so easy to make. Will be on repeat when I need a sweet treat
These are delicious! Super easy to make and I can see lots of varieties to be tried. I did need to bake for double the time stated… but I just kept testing until they were done.
These were a very pleasant surprise! I typically donโt love blondies with fruit but these are terrific with the Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips I used. I halved the recipe and used my 6โ round USA pan and baked for about 27 min. The blondies are chewy and deliciousโฆI was low on cranberries so I subbed dried tart cherries from Trader Joeโs for the rest. Iโll definitely make these again and again!
This recipe is quick to make for any weekday but pretty enough for the Christmas cookie tray.
I made these twice! They were delicious with cranberries and chocolate chips, but they were even better when I made them with chocolate chunks and walnuts. Next time Iโll try cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
These are great for the holidays. I especially love them because they are so versatile and quick to make. And did I mention delicious?? Great choice for December contest.
Just made these dark chocolate and cranberry blondies and they are wonderful. I did add 2T of additional all purpose flour for high altitude. These blondies, with that orange zest and tart dried cranberry were a hit with my husband and I.