White Chocolate Cinnamon Blondies

This holiday season I participated in a cookie exchange with ladies from the What’s Cooking board. I don’t do a lot of cookie exchanges but cookies are right up my alley! She listed her favorite flavors, among them cinnamon. I also noticed that she always made white chocolate cranberry cookies each year. I went looking for something to make with cinnamon and stumbled across these. White chocolate people usually either like or dislike, but since she makes other cookies with white chocolate I hoped for the best.

These were called snickerdoodle blondies but I get a little tired of anything with cinnamon sugar being called snickerdoodle. I think it takes a little more to make a snickerdoodle! This recipe can be made in a 9” pan, 11” x 7” or a 9” x 13” pan. I used a 9” pan because I didn’t want the bars to be too thin. It was a little tricky knowing when the thicker bars were fully cooked, but I think I like the more substantial cookie. 

Pressing the dough into the pan is the challenge here. I don’t think I could have spread the amount of dough I had in a 9” x 13” pan. The bottom layer wasn’t bad, but the top layer is hard to get on. What I did was take pieces of dough, flatten them, and then place on top of the cinnamon sugar. With some patience you can completely cover the top of the cookies, like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. These bars did get a little dry along the edges, but the center cookies are very nice. I love the cinnamon paired with white chocolate.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Blondies

2-1/3 cups flour

1-1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (1/3 cup sugar + 2 teaspoons cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line a 9” square pan with foil, allowing the foil to overhang the sides of the pan. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter on medium until smooth. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium until smooth. With the mixer running on low, gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chips with a spatula.

Divide the dough in half. Press half of the dough into the bottom on the prepared pan. Reserve one tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar for the topping and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on top of the bottom layer of dough. Press the remaining dough on top of the cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle the top layer of dough with the reserved 1 tablespoon of cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown and a thin knife inserted in the bars comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction