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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.
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?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 Honeycrisp apples, peeled (if desired), and chopped (about 2 cups chopped apples)
Cinnamon Maple Butter Glaze
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch flaky sea salt
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.
Could you use apple sauce in place of the apple butter? These sound amazing and I want to make them now but I don’t have any apple butter on hand!
Hey Summer,
I think a THICK applesauce should work well for you here! I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xT
the recipe is wonderful , made it 2 days ago, making it again today
Hey Elaine,
Awesome!!🤩 I truly appreciate you making this recipe and sharing your review and love to hear that it was a hit! xTieghan
I made these last weekend and they are incredible. They still seemed a little soft in the middle after baking (even after the extra five minutes), but after allowing them to cool completely the middle finished cooking and solidified nicely. They keep really well in the fridge and I love to eat them warm with some homemade ice cream. Such a great fall treat!
Hey Spencer,
Happy Friday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe turned out tasty for you, thanks a bunch for giving it a try!
My family doesn’t like stuff that’s too sweet, so how much do you think I could safely cut back on the sugar?
Hi Angela,
I’ve found these work best with the measurements listed so I’m not sure how they would turn out reducing the sugar. If anything, I would just skip the glaze or use very little. I hope you love the recipe! xT
I made these yesterday with a few modifications as suggested in the comments and they came out great! I used 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and added one extra egg yolk. Not cakey at all and so delicious!
Hey Jill,
Happy Wednesday! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a bunch for making it! xT
These are probably the best thing I have made and taste great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Hi Erin,
Happy Monday!! I truly appreciate you trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so glad it was enjoyed! xx
Can these be frozen if we don’t think they will be gone in 3-4 days?
Hi Kristen,
Sure, that would be just fine for you to do! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Way too sweet. More cake than blondie
Hi there,
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the recipe, thanks for giving it a try! Please let me know if I can help at all! xx
Made this recipe this afternoon. Had to sub the flour for GF Cup 4 Cup and it still turned out great! I don’t even bother looking for GF recipes anymore as your recipes turn out fantastic with the changes required to make them gluten free. Thank you for this delightful celebratory offering for Autumn.
Hi Stacy,
Perfect!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for trying it out! xx
I loved these. Mine came out super moist and delicious. The only thing was the glaze turned out super dark so you couldn’t quite tell it was on there. You think maybe I browned the butter too much? Still delicious just didn’t look nearly as good as yours.
Hey Fallon,
Fantastic! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was tasty for you, thanks for making it and sharing your review:) If the butter was tooo dark then yes! xx
So delicious. Mine turned out a bit cake-y but after reading comment I think I over mixed (that said they were so good it didn’t make a difference to me). I think if I make it again I’ll cut back on the sugar a bit but overall—delicious.
Hi Julie,
Happy Wednesday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am thrilled to hear that it was a winner! xTieghan
Can I use a 9 x 9 pan? Will that change the outcome or time?
Hi Livie,
Your bars are going to be thicker and you will need to increase the bake time. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
These were underwhelming for me, more of a cake than a blondie, and a little on the dry side, though I only baked for 25 minutes
Hey Bev,
When I first made these, I noticed them as being cake-like as well. However, I looked back through some helpful reviews and the next time I made them I adjusted just two things and they came out just like blinders! Hope these are helpful for you!
1. I realized I over-mixed the batter so I made sure to gently fold the batter over itself instead of mixing the batter. Just folding until you see no dry.
2. I over-baked the first time. So, I put my oven to 325 range and set a time for 10 mins, then flipped it, and set another 10 minute timer and the middle had set well. Of course you can do the time on the recipe for 350, I would recommend to check the time before 25 minutes is up! I find that with my small convection oven, it’s done before 25 minutes. It also seems to be important in this recipe to take it out as soon as the center sets!
The results from just these few adjustments made them come out exactly like a blondie texture! They were so chewy and delicious, exactly like the title. I totally recommend giving this recipe another try, and maybe the tips I learned can help you too!
Oh also, sifting the flour seems to helps because it blend quicker with the wet ingredients, therefore not giving the chance to overmix!
Hi Katie,
Yours were done after 25 minutes at 325°? I baked mine over an hour—they were just sooooooo raw after 25 mins still!
Yes. Mine were so raw. After an hour of cooking. No idea what went wrong!
Sorry to hear this Haley! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? What kind of baking dish did you use?
Hi Bev,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your review, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed! xx
Hey! I used gluten free flour which could’ve been the problem, but I followed the recipe exactly and it was doughy in the middle and the outside was more cakey and completely fell apart! I really would love to try these again but even after letting them cool for awhile they just completely fell apart! Flavor was good but consistency was a fail ?
Hi Julianne,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, sorry to hear they fell apart, I think this is due to the gluten free flour that was used! xT
I’m definitely going to try again but do it with regular flour!! I also may have over mixed it! ? Thanks for responding!!
These are delicious but the result is definitely more like cake than a blondie. Regardless, my family loved them!
Hey Kate,
Happy Sunday!! I love to hear that this recipe was tasty, thanks a lot for making it! xxT
I had this same issue, Kate! I’m wondering if I reduced the butter too much while browning it and the batter got too thick maybe??
Actually just did more research – next time gonna reduce baking powder to half a teaspoon and add in an extra egg yolk for a more dense, moist texture!