cosmic blondies;

Ever had a cosmic brownie? These Little Debbie dense and fudgy chocolate brownies topped with colorful chocolate bits were a staple of my childhood–I used to be able to buy them at school for 50 cents. But I have to say, these cosmic blondies might even edge out traditional chocolate cosmic brownies as a new favorite!

The thing about cosmic brownies is that the texture, while reminiscent of cakey brownies is so dense, it’s almost fudge-like. And actually, the extra cocoa butter in these white chocolate blondies make them so dense but they melt in your mouth. They’re so simple to make, but the fudgy, gooey texture is buttery and dense, without being overpoweringly sweet (thanks salt). They’re fun, colorful, delicious, and simple to make–what’s not to like here?

I have a problem grocery shopping when it comes to chocolate… Every time I walk down the baking aisle at the store I have to look at the chocolate chips. I’ve found some really fun flavors–in fact you can see my rating of 5 different chocolate chip flavors.

If you can get your hands on them, swap in funfetti white chocolate chips for your standard white chocolate chips!

secret to success

In this case, if you’re able to find Nestle Funfetti white chocolate chips, I highly recommend them. They melt well, add extra flecks of color to the bars, and add an extra vanilla undertone–all for zero extra work. The extra flecks of funfetti color adds to the cosmic colors and they’re made to stand up in the oven being baked so they don’t melt or blend together. That said, if you can’t find them, white chocolate chips will work perfectly deliciously.

So when it comes to the white chocolate in this recipe, there are some important things to note. White chocolate bars, baker’s chocolate, or chocolate chips? It comes down to fat content. In these cosmic blondies, chocolate chips work fine. With the entire stick of butter, there’s plenty of fat which will create the ooey gooey texture. Which I like and prefer personally because chocolate bars are usually more expensive and I don’t always keep them on hand. Whereas I always have chocolate chips on hand.

I didn’t bother to get out my electric mixer and whip the eggs, but the original recipe shared by fitwafflekitchen did whip the eggs, which might make them fluffier. (She shared on IG, I actually can’t find the recipe on her blog.) That said, I like my brownies and blondies dense and chewy, and even just mixing in the eggs with a normal spoon, these turned out ah-mazing.

If you want to be more true to the little debbie “cosmic brownie” look, you can find rainbow chocolate covered morsels instead of mini m&ms.

secret to success

This brings me to the “cosmic” part of cosmic blondies. The traditional little debbie topping is a fudgy icing speckled with little rainbow-colored chocolate morsels. Although my grocery store didn’t carry them, the places that did stock them seemed overpriced for what you were getting. I found a 1.5lb container for $30. Too many and too expensive so I nixed that option right away. Mini m&ms work fine, taste good, and are easy to find.

So I turned to my friends, mini m&ms! Easy to find in the grocery store, and still rainbow-colorful to satisfy the cosmic brownie aura. I even considered skipping them with the flecks of funfetti color from the sprinkles, but I feel like they miss something iconic about the in-your-face rainbow without the m&ms. Plus the milk chocolate is a delicious offset to the sweet white chocolate.

Make sure to keep the cosmic blondies refrigerated! It helps them set up dense and chewy, and it’s also for food safety.

secret to success

Make sure to keep the cosmic blondies refrigerated! It helps them set up dense and chewy, and it’s also for food safety. Since the icing has cream in it, you want to keep it refrigerated. Plus, bonus, I think they taste even better out of the fridge on a hot summer day!

Check out these other delicious dessert bars and ice cream serving suggestions!

• If you’re a dark chocolate (semi-sweet to be exact) gal or guy, look no further–check out my classic crinkle top brownie recipe!
• For a fun twist on a salty and sweet blondie, try this halvah blondie recipe. Made with a nutty sesame candy, this recipe from Claire Saffitz’s Dessert Person is to die for.
• Ice cream always goes wonderfully when paired with brownies, blondies, or any hot summer day. Try out some of my favorite homemade no-churn flavors: vanilla honey ice cream or try roasted strawberry ice cream.