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!
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!!
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. ★★★★★”
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, chocolate snickerdoodles, and maple pecan snickerdoodles. Oh, and don’t forget snickerdoodle cupcakes and snickerdoodle cake!
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.
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
Other than the color is there a difference using regular chocolate chips?
Hi Mimi! The flavor will change too, but you can use semi-sweet chocolate chips if you like.
Looking for cookie recipes that ship well. Found your site along with some delicious cookie recipes that I am eager to try.
I need to make them gluten free. Suggestions or hints? Sometimes using GF flour can cause a recipe to not turn out as tasty–sometimes too dry or crumbly. Thank you.
Hi Becky, we haven’t tested these blondies with GF flour, but we would love to hear how it goes for you if you do. Happy baking!
I love your recipes!! Can I use an 8×8″ pan instead of 9″? If so, what are the cooking times/temperature differences? Thanks so much!
Hi Dee Dee, thank you! No, an 8-inch square pan is too small. I do not recommend it; the bars will not cook through properly.
Hi, new fan of Sally’s Baking Addiction! Despite loving sweet treats and baking, I am not a big chocolate fan… do you have any potential suggestions for replacements for the white chocolate (such as little chunks of caramel) or do you think the recipe can stand alone just fine?
Hi Zoe! You can leave out the white chocolate chips, or replace with chopped walnuts or pecans. Chopped caramel squares would be great, too!
Hi Sally – I love all your recipes! This sounds like a fantastic one. I would like to make a larger portion, but the comments were confusing using a 9 x13 pan. I usually double your recipes for that, but I wasn’t sure if this called for only 1.5 x?! Also, what’s the cooking time?
Thanks
Hi Pat, there is too much batter when doubling for a 9×13 inch pan. These bars rise considerably, and the centers will not cook with that much dough. It’s best to 1.5x it. I’m unsure of the best bake time, but you can start checking around the same time (32-35 minutes).
I added chopped walnuts, and a Tablespoon of maple extract, instead of the vanila, and they came out wonderful!!!!! Thank you for the recipe!!
Do you know how many calories are in these bars?
Hi Sue, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
After reading comments about having trouble spreading the dough I tried using my small offset spatula, worked great, the snickerdoodle brownies were delicious, love your recipes
Made this, but with 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and 1 tsp bicarb. Used the biggest tray I got, which is 20cm², or about 62 square inches. Did not set in the middle at all, unfortunately. Flavour is all there, but alas it seems I must embark on an endeavour to purchase a larger baking tray, if I ever wish to dine upon these in an honurable form
I adjusted this recipe to fit in a 9”x13” pan. It fits perfectly.
3 1/2 c flour (438 gr)
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
18 Tbs butter, room temp
(2 sticks + 2 Tbs)
1 cup+2 Tbs white sugar (225 gr)
1 cup+2 Tbs brown sugar, packed (225 gr)
3 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup white sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
This is delicious!!! I’ll be adding it to my cookie collection. I used an 8”x11.5” Pyrex dish and cut them into 1”x2” pieces. I think I’ll cut them into 2”x2” next time. Thank you for sharing.
Can I use packed dark brown sugar for this recipe as that is all I can find at the grocery store?
Yes, absolutely.
This is one of my family’s favorites! It’s also a favorite when I bring it somewhere. Definitely a keeper!
Something not right here. Is this supposed to be a pourable batter? It was almost as thick as cookie dough, which made spreading the top layer on top of the loose cinnamon-sugar layer impossible. The “batter” just picks up the cinnamon-sugar and pulls up and sticks to the spatula.
Hi Tony, no, it’s supposed to be a thick dough. Let me fix that wording. Spreading it over the cinnamon sugar layer can be difficult because it’s so thick; just take your time and spread as best you can.
I made these for a party and people treated me like I was a celebrity they loved them so much. These are seriously amazing
These turned out great! They were a huge hit. Thanks for this recipe!
Will it change the composition if I leave out the white chocolate chip?
You can leave them out!
Made this for Thanksgiving dessert. YUM! I made mine in a 9×9 because I didn’t have a 11×7 and our 9×13 was being used for something else. It made them really thick. Next time I’ll probably make it in a bigger pan so they are a bit thinner, but this recipe is delicious!
We really loved the outcome of this recipe. The cinnamon flavor was EXACTLY what I was craving. However, spreading the dough in the pan by hand was a total pain and made me not want to make them again. I too had to use baking spray ( A LOT) on my fingers to get them in the pan. Usually Sally’s recipe are 5 stars, this one only 4.
I used parchment paper to pat the dough down and spread it out instead of just oiled hands, worked really well,
That is a fantastic idea! JM! Thank you for posting!
Enjoy your day!!
That’s a really great idea, I am going to try it. Thank you
We loved this recipe – we made it to send in for a teachers lunch and my daughter wouldn’t stop asking to make it again.
I baked these today. Made 1.5 x the recipe in a 9×13 pan. 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.
How long did you bake the 9×13 size bloodies?
These blondies are so delicious! I also added 1 teaspoon of chai spices to the batter because I absolutely loved sallys Chai snickerdoodle cookies and it added a subtle something extra to the blondies! Super easy to make and will definitely be making them again. Crispy cinnamon sugar topping and soft inside!
Chai spices? OH! MY! That would send these over the top! Thank you for posting that suggestion!
Enjoy your day!!
If I want these to be thick but I need them in a 9×13 pan, should I double the recipe?
Hi Lacy, doubling might be a bit too much and take a while to bake through. We’d recommend trying 1.5x the recipe for thicker bars.
Just made this and OMG so yummy! I only had a teaspoon of vanilla but it was still delicious! I wet my hands before pressing the batter into the pan and it worked like a dream!
Aloha Sally!
I have been a loyal follower of yours for a little over 6 years now. Your white chocolate snickerdoodle blondie is a regular homemade dessert in my household! However, I remember that you had two different recipes. This is your older recipe that contains two eggs. There was a newer recipe which contained two whole eggs and one egg yolk. Also had a separate recipe for vanilla glaze to top off the delicious Blondies. Of course the Blondies don’t need it because they are fabulous just the way you are, but I have somewhat of a sweet tooth! I can’t find your newer Blondie recipe and this is the only recipe I found. I was wondering if you could re-post the recipe that contains two whole eggs in one egg yolk? Thanks a bunch for everything you do for the baking community!
Mahalo,
Leilani
Hi Leilani! This is actually my newer version, but I did have an older version as well. To make those, you’ll just need to add 1 egg yolk and increase the flour to 2 and 1/2 cups (313g), spooned & leveled. Here’s the vanilla icing for topping!
I, too, had to moisten my fingers to spread the dough. However, it was well worth it. These are sooo good. Everyone raved about them.
Good but why not just spread the dough in a pan and sprinkle half the cinnamon/sugar on top and then bake. Spreading dough was a pain, even though I had baking spray on my hands.
Had some difficulty getting the dough to spread. Had to use moistened fingers.
The results however were wonderful.
These are so good! They seem like a cross between a coffee cake and butter cake. Mine don’t look as pretty, however. The batter was very thick and not spreadable, so it kind of stayed in the spot I put it in. Not sure why it turned out like that, but I would like to try again.
My batter was really thick as well, and I messed up and used a whole cup of butter instead of 3/4 cup
Hi! Julie! I agree! The batter was THICK. So what I did was, pressed down the batter using parchment paper, spreading as best I could and continued to spread using the back of a tablespoon. After sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar mixture, then took a chunk of batter, patted into a round using the palms of my hands, placed around in top of the mixture. That seem to work better than trying to spread it. Sprinkled remaining cinnamon sugar mixture, pressing down again using parchment paper. I had to manipulate some of the batter to ease into corners and other areas. In oven now, so we shall see!
I hope this helps you for next time!
Enjoy your day!!
Easy to make and so delicious!!