Recipe review: Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour

I have a thing for baking with booze. So, I am always looking for delicious recipes that are made with beer, wine, liquers or spirits. Hence, when I saw these Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour, I decided to try out the recipe.

Note: I used a regular beer that I had in my fridge to test this recipe.
Today I will review the Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour and tell you if you should try out this recipe.

The recipe and Instructions

To make the bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour, you need basic baking ingredients, beer, and some nuts. I omitted the nuts listed in the recipe because I do not like nuts in baked goods.

If you want to make this blondies recipe at a whim, you will be able to do so. If you do not have a bourbon barrel-aged beer, you can replace it with another liquid of choice. However, you should take the consistency of the liquid you choose into consideration.

The instructions for making these Bourbon barrel-aged blondies are easy to follow.
To make these blondies, you will need to melt the butter and mix in the sugar. After the butter and sugar have cooled down, whisk in the beer and eggs until everything is well combined. Finally, you stir in the flour, pour your batter into your baking tin and bake the blondies. The blondie batter bakes quickly and needs to be removed from the oven immediately the baking time elapses.

If you leave these blondies in the oven after they are done, your blondies will be dry.

The Texture

The Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour is dense but not fudgy. Instead, the blondies are dense without being heavy or having a gummy mouthfeel.

I have made the recipe twice and both times the blondies were slightly dry. To counter this, I will add an extra tablespoon or two of beer or butter when I make this recipe again.
If I had used the nuts the recipe called for, the blondies would have a slight texture variation.

Also, the blondies did not have the crackly top like the picture shown on the KingArthur Flour recipe page. To improve the appearance and texture of my blondies, I sprinkled some sugar onto the top crust  and heated it using a blow torch.

The taste

I tasted the blondies a few hours after i took it out of the oven and it was delicious. However, I left it for another 12 hours and tasted it again to see how the flavor had changed.

The Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour is moderately sweet. The prominent flavors are beer and the caramel notes of the sugar. The butter added a slight but important layer in the flavor profile of these blondies.

I reduced the beer before baking with it so the flavor was intense. If you serve this to people without informing them of the beer in the recipe, they may think that you added a little yeast to the blondies. While yeast and blondies do not sound appealing together, these blondies taste amazing because of the complex smooth yeasty flavor.

The beer used In this recipe adds a flavor that will leave people guessing. If you enjoy nuts in your baked goods, you should add them as directed in the recipe.

If you want to switch up the recipe a little, you can drizzle your blondie batter with a little salted caramel before baking. Too much caramel will change the way the blondies bake and alter the flavor too much.

The Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour is a delicious treat because of its beautifully balanced flavors and sweetness. It tastes even better the next day.

Significantly, the type of beer you use to make this recipe, will alter the flavor of the blondies.

Do I recommend the Bourbon barrel-aged blondies by King Arthur Flour?

Yes, I do. If you love blondies, you should try out this recipe. Importantly, if you have a sweet tooth, this may not be sweet enough for you. Still, if you love to try boozy desserts or alcohol flavored baked good, I believe you will like this recipe.

There are so many add-ins you can use to alter this recipe to meet your needs.

I will be adding this to my faves and i will update this review when I have made this recipe with changes.


If you enjoy reading my recipe reviews, subscribe to my mailing list.
Follow me on social media to stay in touch.

If you have a recipe that you would like me to review, leave a link to the recipe in the comment section.