American

Olive Oil Blondies With Salted Caramel

by:
March 28, 2021
5
14 Ratings
Olive Oil Blondies With Salted Caramel
Photo by James Ransom. Food stylist: Anna Billingskog. Prop stylist: Amanda Widis.
  • Prep time 45 minutes
  • Cook time 40 minutes
  • makes One 9x9-inch slab
Author Notes

This is the place to use the highest quality extra-virgin olive oil you can find. The grassy and citrusy flavor of olive oil cuts through the sweetness of the blondie and is complemented by the salty, slightly bitter caramel. For the fudgiest texture and cleanest slices, pop the blondie slab out of the pan and freeze it whole before cutting. Whether whole or in pieces, these blondies are also perfect for shipping. —Sohla El-Waylly

Test Kitchen Notes

These blondies are part of Recipes to Give & Share, a collection of perfectly packable holiday treats that we're sending to our loved ones this year. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the caramel
  • 6 tablespoons (75g) granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (42g) heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • For the blondie
  • 3/4 cup (180g) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 1 1/2 cups (300g) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups (187g) all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup (100 grams) toasted nuts (such as pistachios, almonds, or cashews), roughly chopped
  • 1 pinch flaky salt
Directions
  1. For the caramel
  2. In a 1-quart saucepot over medium-high heat, combine sugar along with 2 tablespoons water and stir with a fork until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover and cook until the sugar just starts to caramelize, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove lid and cook until the sugar becomes a deep caramel, swirling the pan as needed for even cooking, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and carefully add the cream followed by the olive oil and stir to combine (the mixture will vigorously foam up, so take care to keep your hands away from the steam). Stir in the salt, pour into a heatproof bowl, and set aside to cool.
  3. Caramel can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored covered at room temperature.
  1. For the blondie
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, kosher salt, and baking powder. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until creamy and combined. Set the mixture aside for 20 to 40 minutes, whisking occasionally (this dissolves some of the sugar and results in a chewier blondie).
  3. Meanwhile, lightly grease a 9x9-inch baking pan with olive oil and line the bottom and two sides with a sheet of parchment paper. Set a rack in the lower-middle position in the oven and preheat to 350°F.
  4. Add the flour and nuts to the egg mixture and stir to combine. Scrape about two-thirds of the blondie batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer with an offset spatula or spoon. Using a teaspoon, dollop the cooled caramel all over the blondie batter followed by dollops of the remaining blondie batter. Using the tip of an offset spatula or butter knife, swirl together the caramel and top layer of blondie batter, taking care not to disturb the bottom layer of blondie batter too much.
  5. Lightly sprinkle with flaky salt and bake until the blondie has puffed slightly and the top feels set, about 35 minutes. Cool completely before removing from pan and cutting into pieces. In an airtight container, the cut blondies will keep for a week at room temperature or frozen for 3 months.
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Sohla El-Waylly
Sohla El-Waylly is a Food52 Resident, sharing new riffable recipes every month that'll help you get creative in the kitchen. Watch her cook on YouTube in her new series, Off-Script With Sohla. Before she started developing fun recipes for home cooks, she worked as a chef in N.Y.C. and L.A., briefly owning a restaurant in Brooklyn with her husband and fellow chef, Ham El-Waylly. She lives in the East Village with Ham, their two dogs, and cat. Find out what else she's up to on Instagram @sohlae

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13 Reviews

avocadoalice
avocadoalice April 22, 2021
Thank you for this recipe, and another fun video from Sohla!

I made this recipe, exactly as written, but substituted GF flour, used a vegan egg replacer, and used coconut cream instead of heavy cream. They turned out delicious! Such a deep rich flavor! Thanks again!
 
lori
lori April 18, 2021
My friend launched a fancy evoo company and I wanted a recipe to highlight their new product. I'm gluten free so I substituted almond flour and used 3 medium eggs (almond flour can be a bit dry.) Chewy and amazing! You'd never know they were GF.
 
alz
alz April 2, 2021
They were delicious, but I felt the recipe made too much caramel. I only used about 2/3 in the blondie. Next time I'll probably make two recipes of blondie with the one recipe of caramel. Did not use nuts and it was still good !
 
saram
saram April 1, 2021
yum! i was lazy and didn't toast the pistachios, next time i would.
 
katebstein
katebstein March 29, 2021
This is delicious! I used pistachios and they go really well with the olive oil and caramel flavors. I didn't have a 9x9 pan, so I made it in a 9" springform, so I added another few (maybe 5ish) minutes to the cook time. As a heads up, toothpick tests don't work well here, so I'd follow the time or know your oven well.
 
KWells
KWells March 28, 2021
As previous reviewers mentioned, the oil really is the star here. Make your choices accordingly. I went for an extra extra light flavour oil in the batter and a robust oil for the caramel/pan. My first batch was a failure because I grabbed my 8x8 brownie pan without thinking, so my center was uncooked (despite a clean toothpick) but that's entirely on me. Second batch went perfectly. There are a lot of steps - especially if you toast your nuts, like I insist on doing - but every step is straightforward. They were a HUGE hit with my husband, and I can't wait to see the reaction when he takes a pan to work. Thanks Sohla, as usual you've given us a unique delicious recipe that is wicked impressive without being overly difficult.
 
chksee
chksee March 28, 2021
Really delicious. Great balance of flavours!
 
skylarmarz
skylarmarz January 26, 2021
These are delightful! Super fudgy and flavorful. The nuts add the perfect crunch.
I will say the olive oil you use is super important here because you are going to taste it! I used my favorite olive oil for cooking which is slightly citrusy and they came out great. I popped them into the fridge since I baked these in the evening and cut them the next day and the texture was fantastic.
Cannot recommend enough.
 
juliaradic
juliaradic January 14, 2021
super delicious with a very unique flavour
 
juliaradic
juliaradic January 14, 2021
super delicious with a very unique flavour
 
Cristen K.
Cristen K. December 16, 2020
These blondies are out of this world. Very easy to make and absolutely delicious. The olive oil flavor is really pronounced so make sure you do get a good quality oil. They bake up dense and really decadent so I found cutting them into smaller pieces worked best for us.
 
Robin L.
Robin L. December 6, 2020
Obviously I know nothing about making caramel because my sugar didn’t brown until it seized up.
 
Sandra L.
Sandra L. November 30, 2020
These blondies were REALLY good! I did half the sugar and really got the Olive Oil taste