Raspberry danish blondies have a traditional blondie base, pools of tart,
glossy jam, and a generous drizzle of cream cheese icing. They’re sweet and
fun and so cute!
inspiration
I had originally planned to make smores blondies (which will still happen at some point, I am sure), but a lot of desserts I post (and eat) contain chocolate, so I wanted to shake things up a little. I had a craving for raspberry danishes but no desire to make them and I really, really wanted some cream cheese icing. These things all sort of collided to create raspberry danish blondies.
I used a traditional blondie base but added a bit of maple for warmth and complexity, as usual; maple extract is my favorite secret ingredient in most sweet bakes. Dollops of raspberry jam, when baked, turn into beautiful, glossy, dark red pools. Cream cheese glaze is excellent on everything and really brings the danish vibes.
why i love this recipe
easy: a few steps, but simple and nothing is very difficult.
cute: the raspberry is so pretty! And glaze can be, too, if you take the time to drizzle rather than slather it on with a knife.
interesting: classic blondies are, of course, amazing, but mashing them with raspberry danishes makes them extra special and unique.
sweet: raspberry danish blondies are full of fragrant vanilla and cozy maple, but the tang of cream cheese and raspberry keeps things balanced.
details
The instructions look long, but these are pretty straightforward. If you’ve never browned butter before it can be intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy. It doesn’t take long, and it adds a deeper, nuttier flavor to baked goods that I love.
When it’s time to make the batter, you only need one big bowl. A lot of recipes require two, but I hate washing dishes and prefer to use as few as possible. (And honestly, I think very few recipes really require two.) Instead of mixing the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls, you’ll mix the dry ingredients first in the bottom of the bowl, then add the wet ingredients to the top and lightly mix them before combining everything together. (Take a shot every time I say ‘mix.’)
The batter will be light brown and very thick; it’s more of a scooping batter than a pouring batter. Once the batter is scooped into the pan and evenly spread, it’s time to swirl in some jam. If you’ve never done it before, I recommend googling it!
details, continued
Baking time can be variable; it will highly depend on your oven. You’ll know the blondies are done when the edges are golden brown and beginning to come away from the sides of the pan. The middle shouldn’t look totally raw, but it shouldn’t look completely cooked, either—it’ll finish cooking in the pan when you take them out of the oven. For that reason, let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before you (carefully) flip them out onto a plate.
Drizzling glaze is easiest if you have some sort of a condiment bottle, but a spoon will also work. Use all of the glaze!
cook’s notes
butter: use unsalted if you can; salt content varies in salted butter and unsalted gives you a little more control.
brown sugars: I like a mix of light and dark, but you can just use one if you’d rather.
raspberry jam: feel free to use any fruit jam you want!
icing: First, don’t mix warm and cold ingredients. It will curdle. Second, use all of it. I didn’t for photography purposes, but you should.
leftovers: refrigerate, covered, for 3-4 days. Use toothpicks stabbed into blondies and saran wrap on top of them to keep them looking nice. (This is another good thing to google if you’ve never done it before.)
I hope you love raspberry danish blondies as much as I do! Looking for more tasty treats? Try espresso pistachio chocolate chunk cookies, baked pumpkin donuts with chocolate ganache, or the best chewy, fudgy brownies.
raspberry danish blondies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- ½ tbsp vanilla
- ½ tsp maple extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour scooped and leveled
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup raspberry jam
for the glaze
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 2-4 tbsp milk, room temperature or warmed as needed
- zest of 1 lemon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat oven and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8 x 8 baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a little butter or baking spray in the pan to make the parchment paper stick.
- Brown butter. Brown the butter. Heat it in a small pan over medium heat. Don’t walk away! This only takes about 5 minutes, and it’s only a few seconds’ difference between lovely, nutty brown butter and ruin. It will bubble and foam up a bit, and then the bits on the bottom will start to turn brown. Stir it every so often to keep it from burning. Once the bits on the bottom are a nice amber-ish color, take the pan off the heat, pour the browned butter into a small bowl, and put it in the fridge to cool for a few minutes.
- Mix batter. Combine butter and sugars in a bowl and mix well. Add eggs, vanilla, and maple and mix. Add dry ingredients on top and whisk with a fork before mixing them into wet ingredients until fully combined, but don’t overmix. The batter will be light brown and very thick. Scoop it into the prepared pan and use a rubber spatula to smooth it out until even. Dollop spoonfuls of raspberry jam onto the blondie batter. Drag a knife through the batter and the jam, moving side to side in a snakelike shape (google a video if you've never done it before).
- Bake. Bake blondies for 20-30 minutes—the time will depend on your specific oven—until the edges are set and golden brown. The middle should still look underdone, and will continue cooking in the pan as they cool.
- Make cream cheese glaze. While the blondies are baking, make the glaze. Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla paste or extract, lemon zest, a pinch of salt, and 2 tbsp of milk in a small bowl. Use a handmixer to mix until smooth—it might take a minute to get all the lumps out. Add more milk to reach desired consistency, if needed.
- Cool, cut, and glaze. Once the blondies have cooled a little (they can be warm but not hot), use a butter knife to loosen the sides from the pan. Place a large plate over the blondies, flip them out onto the plate, and then turn them right side up. Cut into 9 squares and drizzle with the icing.
Notes
brown sugars: I like a mix of light and dark, but you can just use one if you’d rather.
raspberry jam: feel free to use any fruit jam you want!
icing: First, don’t mix warm and cold ingredients. It will curdle. Second, use all of it. I didn’t for photography purposes, but you should. leftovers: refrigerate, covered, for 3-4 days. Use toothpicks stabbed into blondies and saran wrap on top of them to keep them looking nice.