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If there was ever a recipe that screams fall, it’s these soft and gooey Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze. Made with nutty browned butter, salted apple butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then generously glazed with a sweet, thick, and creamy cinnamon maple glaze. There’s really nothing not to love about these autumn spiced apple blondies. The true secret? Brown butter and sweet apple butter. They keep these blondies incredibly flavorful, soft, gooey, and so delicious. The added bonus is that these bars require almost no effort to make. They’re sweet, salty, heavy on the apple butter, extra cinnamony, and every last bite is truly delicious.

overhead photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

We’re going on a three-week roll of Friday apple desserts and I’m not seeing an end in the near future. Well, ok. I’ll probably switch it up next Friday, but my point is that I have so many fall apple recipes written on my “to make” list. I plan to make as many as I can.

I was worried you guys would be sick of apples, but after a quick poll on Instagram earlier this week, you all assured me that the more apple recipes the better. YES. I am so with you guys. I think I said this last week, but September is apple month, save the pumpkins for October and November, you know?

overhead prep photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies before baking

 

These blondies are easy. Here are the steps.

These are not your average blondie. They are so much better.

For starters, there’s browned butter, apple butter, and fresh apples too. So much apple happening, and it’s SO GOOD!

overhead close up prep photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies after baking

Second, these are truly the easiest to make, they don’t even require a mixer, just a bowl and skillet. We all have those.

Start out by browning salted butter on the stove. Browning the butter really adds a rich nutty flavor to these bars and makes them just a touch cozier. Perfect as we slowly head into the cooler days of autumn. Once the butter is browned, remove it from the stove, and dump in all the remaining ingredients.

You’ll first add the apple butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, and spices (lots of cinnamon). This makes up the dough. Simple. Simple. But trust me, it’s going to be good.

Spread the dough out into a pan. Now, take the chopped apples and toss them with brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the apples over the dough, then bake. As the bars bake away, you’ll have incredible wafts of cinnamon, sweet apples, and butter in the air. It’s the coziest.

side angle photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

The key to these bars?

The key lies within the browned butter and the butter.

Butter keeps the bars rich and flavorful, but the apple butter adds a concentrated sweet apple flavor while also adding moisture. Combined together they make the best blondie bar.

For the apple butter, I used my homemade apple butter, but of course, you can use a store-bought apple butter too. That said, if you’ve never made homemade apple butter, this is the fall to do so. This sounds dramatic, but if you LOVE apples and jammy type spreads, then this apple butter will be life-changing. It’s my favorite to use in both sweet and savory autumn recipes.

overhead photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

While the bars cool, make the glaze.

Most blondie recipes are not glazed, but I wanted these to be extra special and a little over the top.

I took inspiration from my Cinnamon Spiced Sugar Cookies and my Apple Scones, and decided on a buttery maple glazed with cinnamon throughout. It’s just some browned butter, maple, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Simple, but delicious.

side angle photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze stacked one on top of the other

I keep mine drizzly but still thick and creamy. That way it can really sink into all the nooks and crannies throughout these buttery blondie bars.

Buttery, apple filled, flavored with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, and topped with delicious and perfectly sweet maple glaze. Not much beats that, it’s autumn in a bar. Enjoy alongside a mug of steaming hot coffee, cider…or maybe even your favorite pumpkin spiced latte?!?

Total and complete perfection. Also…if you bake these up this weekend, your house is going to smell like fall, and trust me, it’s going to be amazing. Better than a fall candle. SO GOOD!

overhead close up photo of Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

Looking for other sweet apple recipes? Here are a few ideas: 

Spiced Pecan Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

Mulled Spiced Apple Cider Doughnuts

Double the Streusel Apple Butter Bars

Homemade Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter

Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze,  be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Brown Butter Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Cooling Time 5 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 218 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Cinnamon Maple Butter Glaze

Instructions

  • 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
    2. Add the butter to a medium pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown, until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from the heat and stir in the apple butter and 1 cup brown sugar. Let cool 5 minutes. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, mixing until just combined. Spread the dough out into the prepared dish.
    3. In a bowl, toss the apples with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Evenly sprinkle the apples over the dough. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, just until set in the center. If there is liquid in the center, swirl it around the pan, then bake another 5 minutes. Let cool.
    4. Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add the butter to a small pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Drizzle the glaze over the bars. Let set for 5 minutes. Cut into bars…snack and enjoy!

Notes

To Make Gluten Free: Use an equal amount of your favorite gluten free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour. I recommend Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
Storing: these bars keep well for 3-4 days at room temperature or in the fridge. 
To cool the bars quickly for frosting: place in freezer for 15 minutes. Remove and glaze.
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Comments

    1. Hi Jean,
      Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry these were not enjoyed. Please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xx

  1. 4 stars
    I actually tweaked the recipe and added some apple extract and apple cider vinegar to the batter and get more of that tart, appley flavor, and added an extra egg yolk so the blondies would be more brownie consistency and less cake-like. I have no complaints about that, they turned out heavenly!

    So why only vote 4 stars? Well….we gotta talk about that maple glaze. My god. Even using a light hand, it turns these into a sugar bomb. They were too cloying even for me, a total sugar hound who can gobble up two Cadbury eggs back to back and still go back for a third. So this is most definitely not just a matter of subjective taste, here. I’m pretty sure one bite of this stuff would turn my diabetic grandmother past tense. Death by maple syrup. What a world we live in.

    Next time I make these (and mark my words there WILL be a next time), I’m going to simply add brown butter and a bit of icing sugar to any remaining apple butter, and maybe hit it with a touch more ACV to make it a nice, balanced apple icing to enhance the beautiful fall flavors of these blondies, instead of just a maple sugar bomb.

  2. 3 stars
    Didn’t have a 9×13 pan so I halved the recipe to use my 8×8 pan. Followed through the temps and cook time- didn’t set. Increased temperature to 350-370 and cooked in intervals of 5 minutes ( additional atleast 20minutes ) and still hasn’t set. Great flavor, but not a blondie texture; it’s more cake like. Next time I think I’m going to follow a different recipe instead.

    1. Hi Lizz,
      Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback. Unfortunately, you used a much smaller pan than what this recipe requires, so that is why they didn’t turn out for you. Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xx

    2. Hi Lizz, might I suggest adding an extra egg yolk? That’s my secret for making blondies seem more brownie-like rather than cake-like.

    1. Hi Ida,
      Happy Sunday!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I appreciate you making it and your feedback! x

  3. 3 stars
    I think maybe I did something wrong, because my dough was a little dry and did not spread easily, as the photos suggest yours did. And then when I baked with the apples, a pool of liquid formed in the middle and the blondies never really set. I don’t know. I guess they’re still safe to eat, but not what I was hoping for. Next time I would only do two cups of flour and maybe only use one apple?

    1. Hi Jessica,
      So sorry to hear this!! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe or possibly may have skipped? It’s hard for me to say without seeing what actually happened. Thanks for trying the recipe! xx

  4. 4 stars
    Amazing flavor! I made these vegan by using flax eggs instead of normal eggs, coconut oil instead of browned butter in the batter, and peanut butter instead of butter in the glaze. My fiancee told me these were his favorite thing I’ve ever made and I bake A LOT. For me personally, I do agree with the other reviewers that “Blondie” is not the correct term for these (it’s more of a cake) and I struggled to tell when to pull them out of the oven because they stayed wet in the middle despite keeping them in a few more minutes. I think if the technical issues could be worked out from this recipe it would be a 10/10, but it’s still definitely worth a try regardless!

    1. Hey there,
      Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your notes! So glad they turned out well for you with the vegan substitute:) xT

  5. 5 stars
    Very tasty! I omitted the powdered sugar in the glaze (accidentally), but it turned out just fine. A bit messy, but I don’t see anyone wiping their fingers on napkins! This is a keeper!

  6. 5 stars
    These were absolutely amazing! Based on the comments I changed the recipe a bit and used half a tablespoon of baking powder and added some corn starch to the apples to soak up excessive moisturize. There was never a HBH recipe that disappointed me! <3