Almond Frangipane Blondies

March 14, 2023

Can you imagine if you combined two legendary baked goods: almond croissants and blondies? Let me introduce you to almond frangipane blondies.

You know the gooey, almond-filled delicious inside of an almond croissant? That is frangipane, and it’s basically almond gold.

This almond frangipane blondies recipe – which has half a million views on TikTok – is inspired by the almond croissant. It takes that heavenly frangipane filling and combines it with a tender vanilla blondie. These frangipane blondies are chewy on the outside, fudgy in the center and have the perfect balance of almond and vanilla.

Your friends have probably never tasted frangipane blondies before. But let me tell you, I’ve never gotten more “oh my goodnesses” of surprise over a dessert before. My fiance and I eat half the pan in a day whenever I make these. This is one of the most popular recipes on the blog and one of my personal all-time favorite recipes for a reason.

Get ready for your new FAVORITE blondies recipe — almond frangipane blondies.

Frangipane Blondies

What are blondies? Aren’t they the same as a cookie bar?

For a long time, I didn’t really get blondies. Weren’t they just a cookie bar? And why would anyone want a blondie when they could have a brownie or a cookie? Luckily I now have a full appreciation for blondies. And honestly I think they are one of the more underrated desserts with a lot of great flavor combination possibilities.

A blondie is basically the vanilla version of a brownie. It has the soft and gooey texture of a brownie and is satisfyingly rich and buttery. But instead of being all about chocolate like a brownie, it has the warm nostalgia of vanilla.

Okay, so what is frangipane?

Frangipane is a French almond paste that sounds fancy but is ridiculously easy to make and oh so flavorful. It was created in the 16th century by French pastry chefs, who were inspired by an almond-scented perfume an Italian nobleman created to perfume gloves in Paris. The nobleman’s name was Frangipani, hence frangipane.

As a fun fact, Halsey’s real name is Ashley Nicolette Frangipane. So IMO the odds she descends from almond royalty are fairly high.

Frangipane is so easy to make and is a great addition to any baker’s repertoire. You can make it in one bowl without a hand mixer. It comes together similar to cookie dough: you cream together softened butter and sugar with a fork, add an egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and then stir in almond flour and salt.

How to make frangipane blondies

To make frangipane blondies, you’ll make a small batch of frangipane and an easy blondie batter in separate bowls. You press down the blondie batter in a greased or parchment-lined baking tin and spread the frangipane on top.

You can top the blondies with sliced almonds before baking if you’d like. I like adding them so folks know what they’re biting into, but my fiance prefers them without so that they don’t distract from the fudgy texture of the blondies.

When baked, the blondie batter and almond cream combine together so you get the chewy, gooeyness of a blondie and that bangin’ flavor of almond frangipane.

Once the blondies cool, top them with powdered sugar and take a bite into pure joy. I’m not even exaggerating.

What ingredients do I need for this almond blondies recipe?

The frangipane and blondie batter use a lot of the same ingredients and most are already in your pantry. But here’s what to check before hitting the grocery store!

Unsalted butter (if you only have salted butter, don’t add any salt to the frangipane and only add a 1/2 tsp salt to the blondie batter)

Granulated sugar

Brown sugar

Eggs

Vanilla extract

Almond extract

Baking powder

Kosher salt or another coarse salt (if you only have fine table salt, reduce salt in the blondie batter to scant 3/4 tsp)

All purpose flour

Almond flour

Sliced almonds to top (optional)

Powdered sugar to top (optional)

Tips for the best frangipane blondies

When making frangipane, make sure your butter is soft. If it’s not soft, you’ll have a harder time creaming it with the sugar. You can soften cold butter in a pinch by microwaving it on defrost for 12 seconds, turning over the butter every three seconds. Or you can stick it in your waistband and rotate every few minutes (a great hack I got from Broma Bakery!)

Use a metal baking tin instead of glass (this is a tin with perfectly straight edges). Metal conducts heat better, and will lead to more fudgy bakes, rather than gooey-in-the-center bakes. I’ve made these blondies in both glass and metal and found metal superior! Tessa Arias of Handle the Heat has a great article on the difference between glass and metal if you want to learn more.

Make sure your melted butter has cooled before you add it to the brown sugar. If the butter is too hot, it will melt and dissolve the brown sugar.

Properly measure your flour. Too much flour in blondies can make them cakey instead of fudgy. And too little flour won’t give them enough structure.
- Measure by weight: I always use a kitchen scale to measure my ingredients and include the measurements in grams in the recipe so you can, too. You can get a pretty cheap scale on Amazon (I used a $12 scale for years and now use a $28 KitchenAid scale).
- Measure by volume: If you’re using a cup measure instead of a scale, first fluff the flour in its bag, then use a spoon to place it into your measuring cup. Level the flour off by scraping the flat edge of a knife across the top of the cup measure.

Don’t over-mix your flour. Once you’ve added the all purpose flour to the batter, fold it in until just combined. Over-mixing will develop the gluten in the flour, making your blondies more tough.

Eat these blondies at room temperature. I always eat one blondie when they’re still warm from the oven, but they’re more flavorful and fudgy at room temp. I actually find they’re even better on day 2, if they last that long!

If you’re now in your frangipane era or your blondies era

These are some other great frangipane recipes and blondies recipes from me and folks I admire!

If you’re feeling more frangipane, check out frangipane brownies (this is the brownies version of the frangipane blondies!), easy almond croissants, bakewell tart, bostock, cherry frangipane tart.

The almond frangipane blondies made me obsessed with blondies, and we now have 3 more highly loved, viral recipes in the blondies fam. Check out birthday cake blondies, brown butter blondies and maple miso brown butter blondies.

If you make these almond frangipane blondies, please leave a rating and review below. Follow along and for new recipes on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such! Happy baking and have fun!