These Cranberry White Chocolate Blondies are rich and chewy and filled with cranberries and white chocolate chips. You’ll especially love the bits of white chocolate that caramelise near the edges.

If you love blondies too, you have to try these white chocolate raspberry blondies and these Macadamia Caramel Blondies.

Top down view of a batch of blondies drizzled with white chocolate.

What are blondies?

A blonde version of the classic brownie, blondies are a dense, rich and fudgy bar, often but not always made with the addition of white chocolate.

Blondies should be chewy and have a slight crispness on the edge. They’re very sweet and super quick and easy to make. The combination of both white and brown sugar in these blondies gives them a real caramel flavour and also increases the chewy factor.

After creating so many brownie recipes like the ultimate thick fudgy chocolate chip brownies to these gorgeous black forest brownies I started to create blondie recipes. These cranberry blondies were the first one I added to the blog and have been updated with all the info you could need to make them perfect.

Why you’ll love them

  • Sweet, caramelly and buttery in every bite.
  • Soft, fudgy and chewy.
  • Extremely easy to make – just one bowl.
  • 10 basic ingredients.
  • You can customise the add-ins to whatever you’d like.
  • Very portable and eat them warm, cold or room temp.

Ingredients you’ll need

These cranberry blondies have just 10 very basic, every day ingredients. You might even have what you need right now.

Ingredients for blondies on a marble bench top.

Detailed instructions in the recipe card below.

  • Cranberries: I use dried cranberries in these which doesn’t add extra moisture to the batter. I have not tested them using fresh and they would not keep as well with fresh cranberries in them.
  • Chocolate chips: I use white chocolate chips but dark chocolate chips work just as well too, just like in my dark chocolate walnut cranberry cookies. You could also use a bar of white chocolate, chopped into chunks.
  • Butter: Blondies have to be buttery so there’s a good amount of butter in these. Use unsalted butter, so you can control the amount of salt.
  • Flour: Just one cup of plain flour (all-purpose flour) is enough as you want these to stay fudgy not cakey.
  • Sugar: There are two types of sugar in these blondies. White and brown. The white helps create that crisp top while the brown keeps them moist and chewy.
  • Baking powder: Again, you just want a touch of baking powder so they have a little lift but not a cake style rise.
  • Salt: Just a little salt, as always, to intensify the flavours.
  • Egg: One large egg is all you need. Use free range if you can.
  • Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract in my baking as it’s a natural flavouring with richness. Stay away from essence as it’s a synthetic flavouring.

How to make blondies

Your are going to love how quick and easy blondies are to make.

A collage of 4 images showing how to make white chocolate cranberry blondies.

Detailed instructions in the recipe card below.

  1. Mix wet ingredients and sugar: Take a large mixing bowl and add the melted butter, sugars, egg and vanilla. Whisk them together with a balloon whisk.
  2. Add the dry ingredients: Add flour, baking powder and salt and whisk just enough to combine.
  3. Add the mix-ins: Now add the dried cranberries and chocolate chips and fold them through with a spatula.
  4. Bake: Pour the blondie batter into a baking paper lined 8×8 inch square baking tin and spread out to the corners. Bake for around 30 minutes until the top looks dry and a toothpick inserted comes out with some sticky crumbs but no wet batter.

For a bit of fun you can melt some extra white chocolate and drizzle it over the top like I have here.

Also, feel free to brown the butter before adding it to the batter which will add a lovely nuttiness. You can use this recipe if you’re not sure how to do that.

A stack of 3 blondies on a baking tray.

Variations

White chocolate and cranberries are a marriage made in heaven. These hot cross buns go crazy every Easter and these scones are popular all year round. It simply works – EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

The great thing about this recipe though is the base blondie is very easy to customise with any mix-in ingredients you like. Simply swap out the white chocolate or cranberries and try one of these ideas;

  • Chocolate chips: use milk or dark chocolate chips instead.
  • Nuts: try anything from slivered almonds to macadamias or pecans
  • Dried fruits: You can use pretty much any other dried fruits, like chopped dried apricots right through to candied ginger.
  • Coconut: Add large flakes of coconut or even desiccated coconut to the mix.
  • Fun stuff: Try adding some Smarties, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces or Rolos for something extra fun.
  • Zest: Add a bit of lemon zest or orange zest for a little tang. The orange goes really well with cranberry and is a great festive flavour too.

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A batch of blondies surrounded by dried cranberries and a pot of white chocolate.

If you try this cranberry blondies recipe, please take a moment to leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you and it helps other readers too! You can also take a photo and tag @sugarsaltmagic on Instagram.

More blondies and brownies you’ll love

A stack of 3 blondies on a baking tray.
5 from 10 ratings
Loaded with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, these white chocolate cranberry blondies are perfectly chewy, fudgy and sweet. They're a perfect portable dessert, not just for the festive season but any time.

Ingredients

  • 113 g unsalted butter, melted (½ cup / 1 stick / 4oz)
  • 100 g white granulated sugar (3.5oz / ½ cup)
  • 50 g brown sugar, packed (1.8oz / ¼ cup)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 130 g plain (all purp) flour (4.6oz / 1 cup)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • ¾ cup white chocolate chips

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Line an 8×8 inch square baking tin with baking paper.
  • In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter, both sugars, egg and vanilla then use a balloon whisk to whisk together until smooth.
  • Add the flour, baking powder and salt and stir together with the whisk until just combined.
  • Finally, use a spatula to fold through the cranberries and white chocolate chips. 
  • Tip the batter into the lined tin and spread out as evenly and level as possible. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until the top looks dry and a toothpick comes out with just some sticky crumbs but not wet batter.
  • Cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before cutting into 16 pieces. Can be enjoyed warm, cold or at room temperature.

Notes

  1. For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
  2. Feel free to swap the white chocolate chips for milk or dark chocolate too.
MORE BARS AND BROWNIES!
Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.