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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!
What is the cinnamon to sugar ratio for the top ?
These were soooo good. The first time I made them I accidentally used baking soda and I think I liked those ones the best.
Thank you so much! xT
Ahhhmazing! A little more work than some of your other Blondie recipes but worth the effort! So good!
Hi Jaime,
Wonderful!! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for making it and your feedback! xT
I made these for Thanksgiving and they turned out great! I substituted the maple/apple butter with Oat Haus Granola Butter and it worked out. Definitly recommend!
Hi Courtney,
I appreciate you trying this recipe and your review, so glad it was delish! xT
Is it suppose to be 1/4 cup of cinnamon sugar? I only used a fraction of that and it seemed like a lot.
Hi Jenny,
Yes, that measurement is correct, but feel free to reduce to your liking. I hope you love this recipe! xT
Hello, just wondering if you sub ¼ cup maple syrup for ¼ cup apple butter; did I interpret that correctly? Thanks!
Hi Elyssa,
Yes, you can use 1/4 cup of apple butter or 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
They turned out perfect! Thank you, Tieghan! I just used white chocolate chips instead of semi sweet. Excited to take them to our Thanksgiving dinner!
Hi Tiffany,
Wonderful! Thanks for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! xx
These turned out amazing! Made them this morning for thanksgiving with my family. I can’t wait to serve them up after dinner!!
Hi Allyson,
Wonderful! Thanks for making this recipe and your comment, so glad it was enjoyed! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! xx
I bought all the ingredients and followed the recipe.The consistently and flavor were completely different from what I expected. They did not taste like a snickerdoodle or a blondie and did not look like the pictures either. Not edible and dissapointed because I won’t be able to serve for Thansksgiving.
Hi Shanda,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear they did not turn out for you. What was wrong with them? Let me know how I can help! xx
I should have read the comments beforehand and maybe looked at other recipes that are similar. With that said, these came out extremely greasy and unedible. First time a recipe from Half baked harvest is a complete flop.
Hi Ivy,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. So sorry to hear this was not enjoyed. Please let me know how I can help! xx
Hi Tieghan,
These blondies look incredible! They would be perfect for Thanksgiving or to make for holiday gifts! I’m adding the recipe to my list to make in the weeks ahead. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks so much Liz!! I hope you love this recipe! xT
What can you sub for the apple butter, I’m having a hard time finding it. Thank you!
Hi Kathleen,
You can try a very thick apple sauce, otherwise I have a homemade recipe:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
I hope this helps! xx
These look delicious. Can they be made into cookies instead of bars?
Hi Jennifer,
I could keep this recipe as bars, but you might enjoy these:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/frosted-cinnamon-swirl-snickerdoodles/
I hope this helps! Let me know if you give the recipe a try! xT
These are chewy and delicious! I left off the cinnamon sugar because I felt like they were going to be sweet enough. Everyone loved them!
Hey Tyra,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I appreciate you making it and your feedback! x
I am really excited to make these! I usually bake by weight but when I try to switch to metric for this recipe it shows 0 instead of the actual amounts. I’m going to make it with standard US measurements but if there’s a way to get the metric weights I’d much prefer to use the recipe with metric weight when I make it again (and these have some of my fav fall flavors so I’m sure I’ll want to make again!).
Hey Melissa,
Thanks so much for pointing that out! We will try to get those metrics fixed asap! So sorry for any trouble! I hope you love this recipe! xT