Chocolate and vanilla brownies
Who doesn’t love a good brownie? These chocolate and vanilla brownies are a mix between blondies and brownies and are just so good!

Chocolate and vanilla brownies
I had never before made chocolate and vanilla brownies and when I saw the recipe by Jamie Schler, I just knew I had to make it. Jamie and I met ages ago in Germany during a blogger retreat. Back in the day when we still did those kind of things. Her site has changed in the mean time (I think you can find her now on substack) but thankfully these chocolate and vanilla brownies are still here!
Making these two color brownies is pretty straightforward. You make the base batter first. You add in the nuts and then you divide the batter into two parts. In one part you add the chocolate and the other part you leave as is.
Now comes the fun part. For making these I used a 25 cm square tin. Do make sure to line it properly with baking paper. In order to do that I brush the tin with some oil and then place the baking paper inside. That might sound a bit double but the baking paper will stick better to the tin. Making it easier to handle the rest of the proces.

Adding the batter to the tin
Now it is time to add the batter into the tin. In order to do that you create blobs of batter around the inside of the tin. Start with either of the two batters. Just drop spoonfuls randomly in the tin, leaving space in between. Now fill that space with the other color. Once you’ve used up all of the batter you can use a knife or a wooden stick or anything really to swirl through the batter creating a pattern of sorts.
And don’t worry if you don’t get it right. In the end it doesn’t really batter as the end result of the chocolate and vanilla brownies will be delicious regardless of how you created it.
A few notes on the preparations
If you’re allergic to nuts it is fine to leave out the pecans. If you do not have pecans you can substitute for walnuts or another nut. I do like either pecans or walnuts as the crunch on hazelnuts (to name just one) is very different. But essentially you can leave it out or replace with another nut.
How long to bake
As with all baking recipes the final time always depends on a few factors. One is your oven. You’d be surprised to find out how much difference there is in the various ovens out there. It should take roughly half an hour, but these chocolate and vanilla brownies can be anywhere between 30 and 50 minutes. The only way to know for sure is to test it with a wooden skewer.
If you prick the skewer in the brownies it should come out mostly clean. It’s ok if a few crumbs left and right stick to the skewer, but it shouldn’t come out wet.
You can also feel the top surface. If it feels firm but slightly giving it should be fine. If the top is firm but underneath it feels wobbly it might need a little longer.
At the end of the day you will learn how to interpret the baking process. If you don’t yet a skewer is your best friend here.
Chocolate and vanilla brownies
Equipment
- Square baking tin 25 cm or 10 inch
Ingredients
- 110 gr chocolate melted
- 240 gr flour sifted
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 255 gr unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 400 gr granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 125 gr pecans roughly chopped
Instructions
- Break your chocolate into smaller pieces and melt it using au bain marie. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Coarsely chop the nuts and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly butter a baking pan (I used a 25 x 25 cm square one) or line with foil and butter the foil.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy on low speed. Beat in the sugar in four additions then beat in the eggs one at a time, adding the vanilla with the last egg. Scrape down the sides and beat until creamy and whipped up a bit.
- Beat in the flour mixture in about 3 or 4 additions. Fold in the chopped nuts while scraping down the sides of the bowl and blending in the last of the flour.
- Divide the batter in half and – using a spoon – place the vanilla batter in mounds into your baking pan. Beat or stir the cooled, melted chocolate into the remaining batter, blending well, then drop the chocolate batter in mounds in between and around the vanilla mounds of batter in the baking pan.
- Swirl the batters together with a knife to marble. Bake… this could take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour depending upon the size of pan used (and depth) and your oven. When baked, the top of the brownies should be glossy and crispy, the center set; a tester stuck into the center should come out mostly clean.
Nutrition Information
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
I love this new design! It’s fresh, young and quirky like you.
Delicious brownies.
Cheers,
Rosa
Lol… Thanks so much Rosa! Glad you like it!
Gorgeous design Simone!
Thanks Wendy!
Well look at you in your new dress. I knew it was coming but had no idea it would be so fancy. I love it.
I’m a brownie tragic and I could be very happy with these!
Thanks so much Maureen! I’m really happy with my new dress!
Oh my god, Simone, I LOVE the new design! I’ve wanted to revamp my blog for essentially as long as I’ve had it, but could never find a promising designer. I will definitely investigate your design genius- The results are stunning. The only thing that I might like even more than the look of your blog is perhaps the look of those luscious brownies… But it is a close race. 😉
Yes Lindsay is definitely a good choice if you need a designer to vamp your site. She’s busy too so that’s the only downsite but hey, you’ve waited this long right? 😉
The new design looks great! Nice and clean. Brownies look great too — what a great way to celebrate the new design!
I thought so too John… 🙂
Huge congrats on the new design, Simone! I am really LOVING it! It’s absolutely beautiful. 🙂
Thanks so much Sonia! I’m loving it too!
New design is so fresh!
And brownies – oh my, I wish I could bake them now and not to go to uni 🙂
Thanks so much Indre. You can always bake them after uni… 🙂
I am seriously craving these brownies right now. Why do I look at food blogs late at night??
That is never a good idea right? I do the same early in the morning which can also be a very wrong choice!
Those look soooo good. I want to try this recipe this weekend.
O you should! It’s totally delicious. Love the chocolate and vanilla combi!
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