These Cinnamon Apple Brownies are sweet and tender with caramel undertones. Plus they’re super easy to whip together. For a quick fix for your sweet tooth, these Apple Blondies cannot be rivaled.

Chock full of fruit and spiced with cinnamon, these Apple Bars are irresistible and a divine way to celebrate autumn.

Apple Brownies on a white tear shaped ceramic plate

Why You Must Make

  • It’s an easy recipe made with mostly pantry ingredients!
  • They are a wonderful autumn treat.
  • Brown sugar and butter provide caramel undertones and the combination of cinnamon and apples is an irresistible pairing!

When thinking about fall desserts, and this old favorite recipe for Cinnamon Apple Brownies came to mind. I needed a snack to bring to my knitting group this past Friday. Apple pie wasn’t going to cut it. I needed something portable. Finger food to be exact.

I remembered this old recipe for apple brownies, which are actually more like apple blondies since there’s no chocolate involved. It took some hunting through my scads of brownie recipes until I finally located the sheet of paper I’d printed off in 2003. If you haven’t made blondies before, check out this fabulous roundup of over 100 Blondie Recipes. Or maybe you’re looking for The Best Apple Crisp?

Apple Brownies squares on a white ceramic platter.

Expert Tips

These apple brownies come together as quick as a wink. The most time-consuming step is peeling and chopping two apples.

  • PRO-Tip: Use two different baking apples to give your bar a lovely depth of flavor. The rest is just dumping and mixing. Within an hour, your house will be filled with the incredible aroma of baking apples and cinnamon.
  • Make sure not to add too many apples or your bars could become too moist. I’m always tempted to add a few more.
  • PRO-Tip: Since baking powder isn’t used as frequently as baking soda, it often expires and loses its leavening capabilities as it sits in your pantry. Check the expiration date before making these apple blondies.
  • To test your baking powder, put a teaspoon in 1/3 cup of hot water. If it bubbles vigorously, it’s good to go!

The results are a moist bar cookie with chunks of apple and underlying caramel flavor from the brown sugar. They are impossible to resist!!

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the Difference Between Brownies and Blondies?

How can these be brownies? There are two schools of thought. One is that blondies are a subcategory of brownies and the other is that they are two separate kinds of desserts. The former makes sense for these apple bars to be called brownies, as they’re a “blonde” version of brownies.

On the other hand, there is enough differentiation for brownies to be only those bars flavored with chocolate or cocoa and blondies to be vanilla-flavored bars with brown sugar. So call them apple brownies, apple blondies, or even apple bars! They’re so tasty, I don’t think anyone will argue.

How Can You Tell When Blondies are Done?

Like brownies, blondies are done when they pull away from the sides of the pan. They should also be lightly browned across the surface. You can also check by inserting a toothpick into the middle. When the blondies are done, there will be no batter on the toothpick after it’s removed.

Do not overbake your blondies or they will be dry.

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Apple Brownies | Chock full of fruit chunks and spiced with cinnamon

Apple Brownies Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Yield 9 bars

A blondie chock full of apples and spiced with cinnamon.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2-2 large apples, peeled and diced, (use two different varieties. I used a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º. Butter 8 x 8 inch baking dish and set aside.
  2. Cream butter and sugar, then mix in egg. Add dry ingredients, then stir in apples.
  3. Spread into prepared pan and bake till toothpick inserted in center of brownies comes out clean and apples are tender. Times vary from 20-45 minutes depending on size of apple chunks and variety used.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

9

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 167Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 226mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 2g

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