A cross between a soft and thick snickerdoodle cookie and a chewy blondie, these snickerdoodle blondies are studded with white chocolate chips and ribboned with sweet cinnamon-sugar. No dough chilling or individual cookie dough rolling required to get your snickerdoodle fix!
One reader, Lynne, commented: “Perfect. So delicious and so much easier than the cookies. We were supposed to save them for an event next week but I don’t think they will make it that long. So yummy! Will definitely make again. ★★★★★”
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos and additional success tips. These have been a long-time repeat favorite. Though they may look understated, these pack a HUGE flavor punch and their soft, yet dense texture is like a cinnamon-vanilla version of a brownie. So good!!
Snickerdoodle Blondies Recipe Snapshot
- Taste: The classic blondie flavors of sweet vanilla and butter mingle with creamy white chocolate and the distinctive flavor of snickerdoodles, thanks to the cinnamon-sugar topping and filling.
- Texture: One of the many reasons people love blondies so much is their unparalleled texture. Thick, dense, chewy, and studded with bits of white chocolate, these bars are a texture lover’s dream.
- Ease: The hardest part is pressing this super-sticky dough into the pan. I have some tips for you below.
- Time: The batter comes together quickly with an electric mixer, and the pan takes just over 30 minutes to bake. No dough chilling, and no individual cookie dough ball rolling and coating. You do have to wait for the snickerdoodle blondies to cool before you can cut them, however. (Correction: That’s the hardest part.)
Grab These Basic Ingredients:
- Butter: A key flavor in blondies, we are creaming the butter with the sugars, so make sure to use proper room-temperature butter. Using melted butter, which is common in blondies, made these way too dense. Stick with creamed butter as instructed below.
- Sugars: We’re using both white and brown sugars to sweeten these treats.
- Eggs: To bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla: Another key flavor in blondies.
- Flour: All-purpose flour forms the structure of these blondies.
- Baking Powder: This leavener puffs the blondies up as they bake.
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar adds a unique tangy flavor to snickerdoodles, as well as extra chewiness, and is the main ingredient that sets them apart from sugar cookies. If you don’t have any, you can skip it; you won’t really notice anything is missing.
- Salt: To balance the sweet.
- White Chocolate Morsels: White chocolate is a fabulous pairing with snickerdoodles; we love to include it in these pumpkin snickerdoodles and chai spice snickerdoodles, too.
- Cinnamon-Sugar: Snickerdoodles typically get rolled in this combo before baking, but for these blondies, we are sprinkling a generous layer in between two layers of the blondie dough. (And a little more on top, too!)
In Photos: Assembling Snickerdoodle Blondies
The dough comes together quickly with the help of an electric mixer. Expect a thick, creamy, very sticky dough:
Take about half of the dough (just eyeball it) and plop it into a 9-inch square baking pan lined with parchment paper. (Note that the exact pan you see in these photos is no longer for sale!) I always recommend lining the pan with parchment paper for brownies and bars, and leaving a little bit of overhang on the sides. This makes it super easy to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board to slice into squares.
Now comes the tricky part: pressing this sticky, thick, buttery dough into the pan. The best way to do this is with generously floured hands. Keep a small bowl of flour nearby and re-flour your hands as needed.
Once you have the first half of the snickerdoodle blondie dough pressed in an even layer to cover the bottom of the pan, sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the top of it. Reserve 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top before baking.
Now, top the cinnamon swirl layer with the remaining blondie dough. Again, generously flour your hands for this step. Take a handful of dough and press it between your hands to flatten it, then place it on top of the cinnamon swirl layer. Repeat with the remaining dough, a handful at a time, re-flouring your hands as often as needed. Lay the “shingles” of dough gently next to one another, sort of like puzzle pieces.
Try to meld them together, like this:
Lightly sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar over the top, then bake. Let the snickerdoodle blondies cool completely in the pan before cutting them into squares. The bars are pretty thick, so you can cut the pan into 20 small bars. Or, for extra generous servings, cut the pan into 16 bars.
The edges are extra chewy and the centers are oh-so soft. There’s white chocolate chips aplenty and the sticky cinnamon-sugar swirl will make you weak at the knees.
And if snickerdoodles are your thing, don’t sleep on these recipes: classic snickerdoodles (a no-chill cookie recipe), caramel snickerdoodles, and maple pecan snickerdoodles. Oh, and don’t forget snickerdoodle cupcakes and snickerdoodle cake!
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
Snickerdoodle Blondies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 34 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 16-20 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
A cross between a chewy blondie and soft snickerdoodle cookie, these blondie bars are studded with white chocolate chips and ribboned with sweet cinnamon sugar! Have extra flour handy for steps 4 and 5.
Ingredients
Blondies
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180g) white chocolate morsels, plus 1 Tablespoon for topping
Cinnamon-Sugar Filling
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan. Set aside.
- Make the blondies: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt together until combined. Pour into the wet ingredients, then beat on low speed until combined. Beat in 1 cup (180g) white chocolate morsels. The cookie dough will be thick and sticky.
- Spoon half the dough into the prepared pan and press/spread it into an even layer. If using your hands to press it down, flour your hands first. This is a sticky dough.
- For the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar on top of the bottom layer, reserving 1 teaspoon for the top. Flour your hands, take a handful of the remaining dough and press it between your hands to flatten it. Place it on top of the cinnamon swirl layer. Repeat with the remaining dough, a handful at a time, re-flouring your hands as often as needed. Lay the “shingles” of dough gently next to one another, sort of like puzzle pieces. It’s ok if some of the cinnamon-sugar layer is exposed/not covered. Press the remaining white chocolate morsels into the top, and then lightly sprinkle the surface with remaining cinnamon-sugar.
- Bake until golden brown, about 32–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with only a few moist crumbs. Avoid over-baking.
- Cool completely in the pan set on a cooling rack, about 1 hour. Once cool, lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment overhang on the sides, and cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover bars at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Bars freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Wooden Spoon or Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Cream of Tartar: Cream of tartar adds a unique tangy flavor to snickerdoodles, as well as extra chewiness, and is the main ingredient that sets them apart from sugar cookies. If you don’t have any, you can skip it; you won’t really notice anything is missing.
Reader Comments and Reviews
How can I make this recipe into a 9×13 inch pan?
Hi Pamela, there would be too much dough for a 9×13 pan if you double the recipe, but you could try 1.5x-ing the recipe instead. We’re unsure of the bake time, so keep an eye on it.
Is there a way to freeze the dough ahead of time? I’d like to make these for an event in a week and a half, and was hoping to make/freeze the dough now, like I would cookies. Thank you, I’m looking forward to making them!
Hi AJ, it should be fine to freeze and thaw this dough before baking.
These were absolutely the best cookie I have ever had!
Hi – made these for the first time and they were amazing! Wondering if the white chocolate chips can be omitted – will it affect the texture?
Also, I had read the comments about the sticky dough so I tried using a medium cookie scoop to scoop balls of the dough in the pan. Then used an offset cake decorating spatula to gently press and spread the dough. Worked well. Even for the top layer, I flattened the dough then went over the layer with the spatula. Maybe that can help.
Hi Aliza, you can certainly omit the white chips if you wish. So glad you enjoyed the blondies!
I made these for the holidays last year and after tasting one I ditched 1/4 of them just for myself. They are THAT GOOD !! Of course, I’m making them again this year…double batch though.
Wow! Made these for my husbands birthday. They puff up nicely and make fantastic cinnamon-y blondie-ish bars. Must make! So simple!
I would like to make these Snickerdoodle Blondies in a 9×13 pan if possible. Do I just double all of the ingredients? What do you recommend?
Thanks.
Hi Denise, there would be too much dough for a 9×13 pan if you double the recipe, but you could try 1.5x-ing the recipe instead. We’re unsure of the bake time, so keep an eye on it.
i dont have a square pan, i have a 9 inch round pan, would that make a difference in bake time? thanks
Hi Mara, the blondies will be thicker in a 9-inch round pan, so bake time will increase a bit. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I have been reading all of the comments about the difficulty in spreading the batter. I used the old-fashioned cake frosting spreader. And I had no problem whatsoever. Maybe give that a try the next time.
I made these for my daughters wedding dessert bar and they are wonderful.
Love these blondies!! I did double the recipe and used a 9×13 glass pan lined with parchment paper. Sally is right-this is a very sticky batter!! My tip for flattening the dough is make sure your hands are very floured. Get new flour for each section you are flattening. Don’t go back and forth with the dough between your hands-just one squish down and put on top of the cinnamon sugar layer. I’m trying to think of a different chip to use instead of white chocolate which is very sweet. Maybe caramel chips?
*note-I baked the 9×13 pan for 45 minutes
Butterscotch chips would be amazing!
Hi Sally! Question: Could you please explain the reasoning behind the 2+ cups of flour? While they were very chewy, I feel like the amount of flour is making it a bit dense.
Hi Carolyn, the flour helps give the blondies structure and to soak up the wet ingredients. We find 2 and 1/3 cups to be just right for this particular recipe. They should be dense and chewy, but if they seem overly heavy, it could be that the batter was overmixed and the gluten was overdeveloped. For next time, mix until just combined. Thank you for giving these a try!
So good! I originally made them to add to my Christmas Cookie variety box this past year. They were so good, that I made them for my sons wedding this summer. My daughter and my sister both have celiac, so I made them with gluten free flour. They were just as good as the originals. *nobody at the wedding even knew they were GF!! Definately a keeper!
Oh my goodness! I am so excited this recipe worked with gf flour! Did you add an extra egg? Or kept the recipe the same? What gf flour did you use?
My husband will be so happy to have a gf version of this bar!
Hi Sally’s Baking team!
Is it possible to substitute cream of tartar with cornstarch?
I want to have the chewiness factor like in the amazing chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie recipe.
Thanks!
Hi Eve, you can certainly omit the cream of tartar, but we haven’t tried replacing it with cornstarch. Let us know if you do!
Updating that I made them without the cream of tarter and added a teaspoon of cornstarch instead – they came out more cake-like than blondies, so I do not recommend this. Still tasty though!
Delicious!! Was excited to see how they would turn out, as Sallys snickerdoodle cookies is one of my favourites. Mum even preferred these over the cookies.
Yesssss! These are so delicious! I loooove cinnamon and these did not disappoint! Taking them to a BBQ tonight but I snuck a piece… For quality control thanks for the recipe!
These are delicious! Easy to follow instructions—they came out perfectly. I will definitely be making these again!
These are fantastic! My daughter is deployed with the Navy and I included them in her care package. I wrapped them very tightly and took about 6 weeks to reach her ship. She and her shipmates loved them. Have sent them twice along with the recipe.
These are absolutely incredible. I was concerned about the batter being too dry while I was mixing in the flour so I added a splash of milk to loosen. They’ve come out with a consistency closer to cake (don’t know if because of the added milk) but that’s not a bad thing! The cinnamon sugar filling is such a good idea, it works really well! My square tin is 8″ not 9 so they’re a little thicker, they took over 45min to bake through. Maybe that’s why. But they’re not dry so clearly they needed the time. Another brilliant recipe!
Sally, these are an amazing!! I have now tried several of your recipes, and they are all winners! Thank you!
Hi Sally! Just wondering. Do you bake at elevation? I attempted to make these last night and baked for 35 minutes but tried not to overbake per recipe suggestions. When I cut into them they were total mush (although very tasty!). I also noticed your raspberry dark chocolate cake needed a significantly longer time to bake when I made it (took me 75 minutes vs the listed 45). It is also very possible that my oven is not calibrated but I wanted to ask before I pursued this other theory. Thanks!
Hi Sarah, We wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
These were like… unbelievable. I don’t really have words. I only had an 8×8 pan. Baked them at 350 as the recipe states (convection oven) and did 40 min. While they were perfectly delicious they had that under baked pizookie texture where you can still crunch the sugar between your teeth! Perfectly lovely, but next time, I would bake longer, maybe like 42 to 45 minutes.
Can I use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar?
Hi Jane, yes, go for it!
This recipe is totally addictive. They didn’t last long…Absolutely delicious.
Thank you Sally
Mmmmmmm
hi! firstly, my family and i all loved this recipe! just a quick question- when i made these, i saw that the white chocolate morsels had browned, which is different from how white they look in the photo. did i do something wrong? it tasted fine but i’m just curious if i goofed somewhere or if there’s a way to make them stay white like in the cover image!
Hi Zoe, we’re so glad they were a hit! Was it just the morsels on the top that browned? It sounds like your oven may run a bit hotter than it reads. You can try moving it down a rack from the heating element, or you can wait until the blondies have come out of the oven and press the remaining morsels on top then.
Made these last night they are so addictive and taste just like the cookie!
I made these with KA gluten free 1:1 flour. I also used turbinado sugar in place of the granulated sugar, in the dough. Everything else, I left the same. Of course I used weight measurements, because that’s where all the fun is. They turned out fantastic and chewy.
One of the most well-received Holiday Cookies I made this year. I may have to make them again before December, but of course I’ll ditch them in the back of the freezer.
My family loves snickerdoodle cookies and though I’m not generally a fan of white chocolate, I’ve loved all the recipes I’ve made on here and figured I’d give these a try. I’m so glad I did because these turned out amazing! The texture and flavors were spot on, my family devoured them. I’ll definitely be making these again!