These Apple Blondies with Apple Butter Glaze are so delicious! They are soft, fluffy and loaded with chunks of fresh apple. The apple butter glaze is the warm and cozy cherry on top of this recipe!
Apple season is here! There is nothing more wonderful than biting into a fresh, crisp apple on a chilly Fall day. Okay, maybe there is something more wonderful…these Apple Blondies!!!
I’m a huge lover of blondies – I feel like they’re super underrated. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fudgy and dense chocolatey brownie..but sometimes you want a similar texture treat without all of that richness.
Enter these Apple Blondies! They are thickly sliced, soft, dense and loaded with warm spiced cinnamon, chunks of fresh apple and hi hello my favorite thing in the world: apple butter glaze.
Why You’ll Love These Blondies:
- They are THICK – baked in an 8×8 glass pan for ultimate thickness when you slice into them.
- They are SOFT – super fluffy, soft and melts in your mouth with each bite.
- They have TEXTURE – you’ll love the fresh chunks of crisp apple baked into each bite.
- They have FLAVOR – not only do you get applesauce making them moist, but it also adds additional apple flavor. And the warm spices like cinnamon baked into it makes it even better!
- The glaze is AMAZING – if you are a fan of baked goods with a glaze, stop here because HI the apple butter glaze is my new favorite thing in the world.
Ingredients You Need:
Salted Butter – a must have to keep these blondies super moist.
Vanilla extract – to add flavor!
Cinnamon – a must have when baking anything apple, right?!
Large Egg – to bind everything together.
Unsweetened Applesauce – to add additional moisture as well as apple flavor.
Whole Wheat Flour – you can sub all purpose but I really like the slightly nutty flavor the whole wheat brings to the table.
Baking Soda – to help them rise!
Fresh Apple – for the chunks in each bite. I used a honeycrisp but feel free to use gala or pink lady.
How to Make Blondies in 5 Simple Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 glass baking pan and also line it with parchment paper for easy removal. Set aside for now! Dice the apples into bite size pieces. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, melt the butter. Add in the brown sugar and whisk to combine. Add in the egg, applesauce and vanilla extract and combine.
- Add the whole wheat flour, baking soda and cinnamon and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Add in the diced apples and fold in with the wooden spoon.
- Add batter to the greased pan and smooth out evenly. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Let the blondies cool and make the glaze by whisking powdered sugar and apple butter and a splash of milk. Once cooled, generously drizzle glaze on top and slice them. Enjoy!
Best Baking Tips:
I always preface these tips to make sure that you let your oven preheat all the way! This will ensure that the bars will bake to perfection 🙂
I like to both grease my pan with non-stick spray (or butter) and also line it with parchment paper. I feel like it makes the bars so much easier to remove when they have fully cooled in order to slice them.
Use a sweet and crispy apple for this recipe! I personally never use Granny Smith to begin with but I really like the added CRUNCH and sweetness of the honeycrisp – it adds a lot of texture to the bars.
Be sure NOT to overbake these bars. If they have a few crumbs when you pull out the toothpick, that’s okay! They will continue to bake a little bit in the pan when you let them cool.
When you are making the glaze, if you prefer a thinner glaze, add more milk. I personally preferred a thicker glaze so I just did a splash of milk. It can be whatever floats your boat when it comes to consistency.
I bought a store-bought apple butter, but you can also make your own!
Storing Leftovers:
Store leftover blondies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature (or in the fridge!). Enjoy warmed in the microwave if desired or at room temp 🙂
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few others you might like:
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Apple Blondies with Apple Butter Glaze
These Apple Blondies with Apple Butter Glaze are so delicious! They are soft, fluffy and loaded with chunks of fresh apple. The apple butter glaze is the warm and cozy cherry on top of this recipe!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) melted salted butter
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
Dry Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup bite sized, diced honeycrisp apple
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 heaping tbsp apple butter
- 1-2 tbsp milk to thin out the glaze
Instructions
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Spray an 8x8 glass baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and/or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
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Dice apples into bite size pieces and set aside.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add the melted butter along with the brown sugar. Whisk these two together until they are combined and smooth. To this, add the unsweetened applesauce, egg and vanilla extract. Mix together until they are combined.
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Add the whole wheat flour, baking soda and cinnamon into the wet ingredients. Gently mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Make sure not to overmix!
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To the batter, add in the diced apples and gently fold them in.
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Add the batter and gently smooth out until it's evenly spread in the pan.
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Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then gently remove.
Glazing Bars
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In a small bowl, whisk the ingredients for the glaze together. If you want it thinner, add more milk. Thicker? Add extra apple butter/powdered sugar and whisk until you reach your desired consistency.
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Once the bars are fully cooled, generously drizzle the glaze on top. Slice the bars and enjoy!