Christmas Blondies Twist with Pretzels

Spread the batter into the pan, then scatter those M&Ms on top—they stay put better that way instead of sinking into the middle. Bake at 345°F for 23 to 30 minutes. Center jiggles just barely. Edges pull away from the sides. That’s the sign.

Had a batch get rock solid once. Overbaked by maybe four minutes. Never again. The top gets this thin crackle when you hit it right, but the inside stays chewy. That’s the whole point.

Why You’ll Love These Holiday Blondies

Forty-three minutes total—fifteen to prep, twenty-eight in the oven. Perfect for when you need something sweet before people show up.

Pretzels and M&Ms sound weird together. They’re not. Salt cuts the brown sugar sweetness and the crunch wakes up your mouth. Works cold the next day, maybe better.

Comfort food without being boring. These sit somewhere between a brownie and a cookie and something entirely its own thing.

Arrowroot makes the crumb lighter than it should be. Not sure why it matters this much, but it does. Dense blondies are sad blondies.

No mixer needed. One bowl. Stir and done. Holiday dessert that doesn’t require half your kitchen.

What You Need for Holiday Blondies with Pretzels

Two cups all-purpose flour. Not cake flour—wrong texture. Not bread flour either.

One tablespoon of arrowroot powder. Lighter crumb than cornstarch would give you. Subtle. Noticeable.

Half teaspoon baking soda. Half teaspoon sea salt—goes into the dry mix, makes the whole thing balanced instead of pure sugar bomb.

One cup melted unsalted butter. Melted, not softened. Temperature matters.

One and a half cups packed light brown sugar. Packed. Not loose. The moisture in brown sugar is what makes these chewy.

Two eggs, large. Room temperature works better but not required.

Two teaspoons vanilla. Pure vanilla. The imitation stuff tastes thin here.

One cup mini M&Ms—divide this, use most in the batter, save a couple tablespoons for the top. The ones on top stay bright and colorful instead of sinking and darkening.

Half cup crushed pretzels. Rough chop. Some pieces dust-sized, some chunk-sized. Texture variation matters.

How to Make Holiday Blondies

Heat the oven to 345°F. Grease a 9x13 pan with shortening. Line the bottom with parchment paper—this is the part that gets you a perfect release, clean edges. Wax paper doesn’t work. It sticks, tears, ruins everything.

Sift the flour, arrowroot, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Sifting breaks up clumps and adds air. Set it aside.

In a bigger bowl, stir the melted butter and brown sugar together until it looks granular, like wet sand. This texture is crucial. If it gets too smooth the sugar dissolved too early and your blondies turn out dense and sad. Keep stirring until you see that granular thing happen. It takes a minute.

Add the eggs one at a time. Stir hard. Scrape the bottom and sides constantly. Eggs need to actually mix in, not just sit on top. Then add the vanilla. Keep scraping. You’re looking for everything to be fully incorporated. Rush this and you get dense, tough bars that taste like failure.

How to Get Blondies with That Perfect Crackly Top

Add the dry stuff slowly to the wet stuff. Mix just until you see a few streaks of flour left—don’t keep going. Overmixing develops gluten and makes them tough and chewy in the wrong way. The batter should be thick and slightly sticky. If it looks runny, your flour measurement was off and you’re about to bake something flat.

Fold in most of the M&Ms and all the crushed pretzels. The salt from the pretzels cuts through the sweetness. The crunch adds something real.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top gently—you’re not trying to make it perfect, just even. Scatter the reserved M&Ms on top. They stay colorful this way.

Bake 23 to 30 minutes. Watch the edges. When they firm up and pull slightly away from the pan, you’re close. The center should jiggle gently when you move the pan, but not wave around like it’s liquid. Insert a toothpick into the middle. It should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it, not wet batter and not completely clean. If it comes out dry, you overbaked and lost the crackly top.

Cool them completely in the pan. This takes patience. If you slice them warm they’ll crumble or stick messily. Cold, they slice clean.

Lift out the parchment. Slice into twelve squares. Serve immediately or store airtight—these go stale fast so don’t wait around.

Christmas Blondies Twist with Pretzels

By Emma

Prep:

15 min

Cook:

28 min

Total:

43 min

Servings:

12 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini M&M's, divided
• ½ cup crushed pretzels

Method

1. 1 Preheat oven 345°F. Grease 9x13 pan with shortening. Line bottom with parchment—helps for perfect release. No quick wax paper substitute; messes the crust.
2. 2 Sift together flour, arrowroot, baking soda, salt in medium bowl. Arrowroot makes crumb lighter than cornstarch, subtle but noticeable. Set aside.
3. 3 In big bowl, stir melted butter + brown sugar until granular texture appears, like wet sand. Crucial. Too smooth means sugar dissolved prematurely; texture will suffer.
4. 4 Add eggs one at a time, plus vanilla. Scrape sides bottom frequently; eggs need full incorporation to avoid dense blondies. Overwork here and you get dense, tough bars.
5. 5 Add dry stuff slowly. Mix just until few streaks remain; overmixing develops gluten. Batter should be thick, slightly sticky—if runny, flour measurement off, expect flat blondies.
6. 6 Fold in all but 2 tablespoons of M&Ms and crushed pretzels—salt cuts sweetness, adds crunch. Pretzel substitution unexpected but wakes up the chew and adds flavor depth.
7. 7 Spread batter into pan evenly. Smooth top gently. Scatter reserved M&Ms on top, makes colorful pop and prevents sinking into batter
8. 8 Bake 23-30 minutes. Watch edges firm and pull slightly away from pan. Center jiggles gently but not liquidy. Insert toothpick must come out with moist crumbs. Too dry = overbake, no crackly top.
9. 9 Cool completely—blondies still warm crumble or stick messily. Patience here pays off for clean slices.
10. 10 Lift parchment, slice into 12 squares. Serve or store airtight. Stale quickly so no dawdling.

Nutritional information

Calories

280

Protein

3g

Carbs

38g

Fat

12g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Holiday Blondies with Arrowroot

Can I use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder? Works. Won’t be quite as light. Arrowroot gives something cornstarch doesn’t. Minor difference but noticeable if you’ve had both.

What if I don’t have pretzels? Skip them. Blondies are fine without. But they’re less interesting. Crushed potato chips work too—saltier version.

How long do these last? Three days in an airtight container. After that they dry out. Probably fine to eat but not great. Freeze them if you need them longer.

Can I use regular M&Ms instead of mini? Yeah. They’ll sink more. Top them with regular ones to keep color on the surface.

Why is the center supposed to jiggle? That’s where the chew lives. Overbake and it goes hard. Perfect spot is barely set in the middle.

Do I have to grease and parchment the pan? Just parchment works. Shortening helps it stick less. Butter works too but burns a bit on the edges sometimes.

Can I make these ahead? Make the batter, refrigerate overnight. Bake when you’re ready. Takes same time. Batter’s actually easier to spread when it’s cold.

Is there a way to keep them from staling? Not really. They go. Store bread with them sometimes—bread pulls moisture from the blondies instead of air doing it. Still doesn’t last forever.