These soft and chewy brown butter apple blondes are filled with warm fall flavours. Combining cinnamon-spiced apples, rich brown sugar, and deep, nutty brown butter. To make them even more special, they’re topped with a smooth brown butter icing. A reader-favourite topping also used on peach Bundt cake and pistachio cookies. If you love apple desserts, this recipe is definitely worth trying.
Let’s celebrate apples with these rich and buttery blondies. The best part is that this recipe makes a large 9×13-inch pan, so you will have plenty to share.
These Brown Butter Apple Blondies Are:
- Cinnamon-spiced
- Soft and sweet
- Chewy, not cakey
- Made with brown sugar and brown butter
- Full of juicy apples
How to Make Brown Butter Apple Blondies
Pay attention here, because there are a few steps before you get to enjoy them.
- First, brown the butter. You will use this for both the blondies and the icing. Once it is ready, pour it into a heat-safe bowl and put the same pan back on the stove. There is no need to wash it because you will use it again.
- Next, peel, chop, and cook the apples until lightly browned. You can add raw apples to the batter, but cooking them first makes them taste much better. Cook the apples for about 3–5 minutes, stirring in a little maple syrup (or brown sugar) and cinnamon. This step adds amazing flavour.
- Now make the blondie batter. You do not need an electric mixer for this recipe. Only whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients and the cooked apples. Spread the thick batter into a lined 9×13-inch pan.
- Bake until the top is lightly golden. This usually takes around 35 minutes.
- While the blondies cool, prepare the icing. Mix some brown butter with confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla, and pinch salts.
Here are the gently cooked apple and the blondie batter:
- Success Tip: Lining the pan with parchment papers make it easier to remove the blondies and cut them neatly. This trick also works well for Rice Krispies treats and cookie bars.
- Best Apple for Brown Butter Apple Blondies: You can use any apples you like. Tart apples like Granny Smith are a great choice because they balance the sweetness of the blondies.
- The Magic of Brown Butter Brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavour that makes these blondies taste even better. It is made by cooking butter on the stove until the milk solids turn golden and smell nutty. This process takes about 5–8 minutes. It may seem like a small step, but it makes a big difference. In only a few minutes, you create a deep flavour that improves the whole recipe. And it is completely worth it. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll have something amazing:
- Brown Butter Icing: The blondies do not really need icing, but adding it makes them even more delicious.
This same icing is used in recipes like pistachio cookies, skillet cornmeal cake, pecan sugar cookies, and brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies. It is smooth, rich, and loved by many readers, especially on a peach Bundt cake. You can also try it on scones and cinnamon rolls.
Description: These soft and chewy brown butter apples blondies combine cinnamon-spiced apple, brown sugar, and rich brown butter. For extra flavour, top them with brown butter icing. Read the recipe notes before starting.
Ingredients
Apples
- 2 cups (240g) peeled and chopped apple (about 2 medium apple)
- 2 Tablespoon (30g/ml) pure maple syrup (or brown sugar)
- 1/8 tea-spoon ground cinnamons
Blondies
- 1 cup (16 Table-spoon; 226g) unsalted butter, cut into piece
- 2 and 1/3 cup (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & levelled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 tea-spoon salts
- 1 tea-spoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tea-spoon ground nutmegs
- 1 and 2/3 cup (330g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 tea-spoons pure vanilla extract
Brown Butter Icing
- 1/4 cup (4 Table-spoon; 56g) unsalted butter
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioner sugar
- 2 Table-spoons (30g/ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of salts
Instructions
- Brown the butter for the blondies and icing: Place all 20 tablespoons of butter in a light-colored pan over medium heat. Stir constantly as it melts. Once melted, it will foam; keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, you will see brown bits at the bottom and smell a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl, scraping all the brown bits. Set aside 3 tablespoons for icing and let the rest cool slightly.
- Prepare the apples: Using the same pan, add apples, maple syrup (or brown sugar), and cinnamon. Cook for 3–5 minutes until slightly soft. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9×13-inch pan with parchment papers, leaving extra on the sides to lift the blondies out easily.
- Make the blondies: In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, mix brown butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredient, then fold in apples. The batter will be thick.
- Spread the batter evenly into the pan. Bake for about 35 minutes until the top is lightly brown, and a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Let them cool completely.
- Make the icing: If the brown butter has hardened, warm it slightly. Mix with confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Adjust thickness if needed. Spread over cooled blondies.
- Lift the blondies out using parchment paper, place them on a board, and cut them into squares. Store covered at room temperature for 2 day or refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Make Ahead Instructions: You can freeze blondies (with or without icing) for up to 3 months. Place parchment paper between layers. The overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temperature before serving.
Special Tools: Light-colored pan, 9×13-inch baking pan, mixing bowls, whisk, spatula
Apples: Use any apples you like. Tart apple such as Granny Smith work best to balance the sweetness. Peel and cut into small pieces before using.