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Soft and gooey, Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodle Blondies. Made with nutty browned butter, salted apple butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then mixed with chunks of cinnamon that melt into wonderful swirls. Just before baking, sprinkle the blondies with a little cinnamon sugar for that classic Snickerdoodle finish. And the true secret here? Sweet apple butter. It’s what keeps these blondies incredibly flavorful, soft, gooey, salty, and so delicious. Great to bake throughout the holiday season!
I’m probably about to annoy many of you, but I’ve entered into my happy, excited holiday cooking and baking zone. These are the recipes I LOVE the most all year long. I work so hard to share only the most special ones each and every season. So I’m jumping up and down with excitement to share these!
And these cookies! Or blondies!! I love them. A mix between a chewy, sweet Snickerdoodle and a thick blondie bar.
Perfect for Thanksgiving, or for packing up to fill this year’s holiday cookie boxes!
The details
Step 1: make the cinnamon swirl
This swirl is what makes these blondies so special. It’s just brown sugar mixed with butter and cinnamon. Exactly what you’d roll a cinnamon roll up with.
Now crumble the cinnamon into chunks and then freeze. It’s not fancy at all, but adds a sweetness that’s unique and special to this cookie.
Step 2: make the cookie dough
While the chunks freeze, make the cookies.
Start by browning the butter. This gives you the flavor of browned butter and leaves you with a cookie that has great texture too. Shocker, I know, I added browned butter, but it makes the cookies just that much better.
It’s worth the extra step.
Then add brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix together, and add the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, and salt.
Step 3: swirl and bake.
At this point, the cinnamon chunks should be frozen and ready to use. Mix them into the cookie dough and spread the dough out into a baking dish. In classic Snickerdoodle form, sprinkle the top of the dough with cinnamon sugar.
I do a light sprinkle. I didn’t want the bars to be overly sweet. Bake them up until they are barely set on the edges and gooey in the center. A little underdone is best!
Step 4: slice, eat, and enjoy!
Not a traditional blondie bar, but so much better! The result is a perfectly chewy, gingery, blondie with rich notes of cinnamon and vanilla.
We couldn’t love these easy snickerdoodles more. The cinnamon swirl really makes them special. Hope you guys love these just as much as I do!
Looking for Christmas cookie recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Chewy Frosted Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodles
Easy Slice ‘n’ Bake Vanilla Bean Sugar Cookies
Chewy Brown Butter Pretzel Pecan Cookies
Soft Gingerbread Latte Cookies with Brown Butter Icing
Lastly, if you make these Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodle Blondies 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 Cinnamon Swirl Snickerdoodle Blondies
Servings: 24 bars
Calories Per Serving: 217 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
blondies
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup ) salted butter
- 1/4 cup apple butter or maple
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. To make the cinnamon swirl. In a bowl, mix the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Line a small baking sheet with parchment. Crumble/tear the cinnamon mix over the baking sheet, creating small chunks. Freeze for 10 minutes, until firm.3. To make the snickerdoodles. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour the brown butter into a mixing bowl. 4. To the butter, add the brown sugar, apple butter, egg, and vanilla, Beat until combined. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips and 2/3 rds of the cinnamon chunks. 5. Spread the dough into the prepared dish. Press the remaining cinnamon chunks into the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the edges are just setting and the center is still doughy. Let cool6. Cut into bars, snack, and enjoy!
how long do these last & how to store them?
Hi Abbey,
These are good for 1 week in an airtight container:) I hope you love this recipe! xx
Do you use theDo you use the entire 1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top?
Hi Rachel,
I did, but you could always reduce the amount to your liking:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Thank you for sharing all of these wonderful recipes! I have so many I am excited to try. I hope I didn’t miss it in the notes but do you make home-made apple butter to use in this recipe or is there a brand you recommend?
Thanks so much, Kelly!! I usually make mine, but you can totally use store bought as well! Please let me know if you have any other questions! Here’s my recipe:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Just made these and they are soooo good!the browned butter really makes a difference!
Hi Marci,
Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for trying it and your feedback! xT
They seem like they will be good. I would recommend rephrasing this recipe to say baking pan instead of baking dish. I specifically used a glass baking dish when I read that and found them to be undercooked. Then I read the comments about using a metal baking pan to see if others had the same issue. Currently have them back in the oven, but the corner I tried when first removing them was delicious.
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! Sorry for any confusion with the baking pan! Glad to hear they are tasting delicious! xx
These are amazing! I have made them twice and shared the recipe ☺️. I am glad to see your comments about using a metal pan. I used glass and they took longer. Soooo yummy!
Hey Pamela,
Wonderful!! I am so glad that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for giving it a go! xx
Loved this! Used the apple butter and left out the chocolate chips since my husband doesn’t like chocolate. So good and easy to make!!
Hey Jenny,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad to hear that it turned out well for you:)
Mine turned out super gooey and I baked for 22 mins. Used a thermometer in the oven so the temp was right. I did use a solid glass pan, so that could be it? Also, they turned out way too cinnamon-y. The apple butter I used had seasonings in it, though, so that could be contributing for sure.
Hi Kellie,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I definitely the glass pan was the issue, I always use metal when baking unless specifically noted:) Let me know if you give these another try! xx
Planning to take these to our Thanksgiving dinner as the pie alternative. Made a practice batch today and they are delicious!
Yay!! Love to hear this Kristin! Thanks for choosing this recipe:) xT
Made these tonight when I had people over, and they were all gone by the end of the evening – everyone loved them!
Hey Tina,
Love to hear that this recipe was delish! Thanks for making it and your feedback! Have a great weekend!🍁🍃
Omg. These snickerdoodle brownies are to die for. Such flavors. It was such an easy recipe also !!!
Lol thanks so much Laura!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it! xT
These bars are so easy and delicious, super cinnamony and so moreish! I made a quick apple butter for the last HBH recipe I used so it was a great way to use up some more of that. The metric conversion link doesn’t work for every ingredient but it wasn’t a problem as I found some websites to help and used cups where I wasn’t sure. Definitely making them again 🥰
Hi Sophia,
Happy Friday!🍂 I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for trying it and your comment! Sorry about the metric conversion! xx
I think these are the best bars I’ve ever had!! They were so easy to make and SO good!! The frozen cinnamon chunks are a great addition. I used apple butter per the recipe, and will definitely make these again!
Yay!! Love to hear this Steph!! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try and sharing your comment! xT
Can pumpkin butter or cranberry-apple butter be used instead of the apple butter?
Hi Paulina,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Let me know how this recipe turns out for you, I hope you love it! xT
These are yummy! What a treat! I didn’t have apple butter so I used maple syrup and it worked perfectly. I also wasn’t interested in the chocolate component, so I left out the chips. Lastly, I used only about 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar sprinkle on top, and they were plenty sweet. A delicious fall treat for my co-workers!
Hi Kathryn,
Wonderful!! So glad you were able to make this recipe with the maple syrup and without the chocolate. Love to hear that they were enjoyed! xT
I have baked these twice. They have both turned out pretty thin. WhT could I be doing wrong?
Hi Tamela,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, sorry to hear they are thin! What kind of baking dish are you using? I would recommend switching to metal if you aren’t already using that. I would also check to be sure that your baking powder is not expired. I hope this helps! xx
Hey! Mine were super thin too. I used a metal pan. My baking soda was fine. Any other ideas? They were still delicious!!
Hi Nancy,
Glad to hear these were still yummy! Sorry, I don’t really know why else these would be super thin, I never ran into that issue when testing this recipe! Unless you used a bigger pan than me? xx