Rich, moist, and gooey, these Apple Cinnamon Bars are just like your favorite blondie, but with a fall flavored twist. With coconut sugar, apple cider, and decadent brown butter, these bars are next level delicious.
Table of Contents
About these Bars
Ok, I love fall. Growing up in Michigan, I was spoiled with easy accessibility to apple picking, going to cider mills (if you've never been, put it on your list), and strolling around the pumpkin patches. I'm still on the search for an apple orchard in Georgia - until then, Michigan apples from Kroger will have to suffice.
Luckily, these Apple Cinnamon Bars remind me of fall back in Michigan - and they're made with pantry staples and only require one fresh, seasonal apple. I can't wait to hear what you think of these!
They're rich, moist, and remind me of a blondie with a fall twist. I brown the butter in this recipe, and I HIGHLY recommend you doing this, too, as it takes the cookie bar to a whole new level.
And if you're looking for more apple treats, also try these Apple Nachos, these Apple Cream Cheese Danishes, these Apple and Peanut Butter Snack Balls, or these Cinnamon Rolls with Apple Pie Filling, all of which I know you will love, too!
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: We will brown the butter for a rich, nutty flavor. If you've never done this before, I provide helpful directions below.
- Sugar: This recipe includes both brown sugar and coconut sugar, which I've found combined create the best flavor, but using all one or all the other is also fine.
- Apple Pie Spice - A combination of Cinnamon, Ginger, Allspice, Cardamom, Nutmeg. Ground cinnamon alone is also fine I just enjoy the extra flavor profiles added.
- Apple Cider - The concentrated cider mixed into the cookie bar batter provides amazing flavor for a true taste of fall. If needed, you can also substitute apple juice.
- Almond or Pecan Butter - This will be the base of our caramel drizzle. For this recipe in particular, I love using Abby's Better Butter: Date Pecan Butter (use discount code 'apaigeofpositivity' to save $$).
- Honey - This will sweeten our nut butter caramel sauce. You can substitute with maple syrup if that's what you have.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat whisking once it starts to bubble. Continuing stirring for 2-3 minutes until butter starts to brown and has a caramel smell. Once browned, immediately pour butter into a mixing bowl (no need to clean the sauce pan! We will use it for the caramel sauce). Let it cool for 3-4 minutes before continuing next steps. See below for more browning butter tips.
3. To the bowl, add in light brown sugar, coconut sugar, and apple cider. Fold until the sugars dissolve into mixture and no clumps remain.
4. Crack egg & 1 yolk, and add vanilla extract into the batter. Mix until well combined.
5. Then combine the dry ingredients to the mixture: all purpose flour, apple pie spice (can sub ground cinnamon), baking powder, and a pinch of sea salt.
6. Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper and spray with coconut oil. Add the batter to the lined pan, and place sliced apples on top. Bake for 27-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. While the bars bake, make the caramel sauce (see below).
For the caramel sauce:
- In the same pan used for browning the butter, over medium heat coconut oil with the honey. Whisk continuously until smooth throughout.
- Remove from heat and stir in nut butter: I love date pecan butter, but almond butter works just fine too!
- Once thoroughly combined, drizzle over your COOLED blondies and enjoy!
Expert Tips
How to Brown Butter
Browning butter is the process of taking regular butter just past its melting point to toast the milk solids. Doing this brings out the nuttier, richer, and caramel flavors of butter and really takes this recipe up a notch! Here’s the details on how to do it:
- You’ll need a small saucepan and whisk or spoon. I suggest a stainless steel or lighter color pan so you can see when the butter begins to change in color.
- Heat your pan over medium-high heat. Cut your butter into slices and add it to the heated pan. It’s best to use unsalted butter for this.
- Allow your butter to melt, stirring frequently to keep milk solids from sticking to the bottom of your pan.
- After a couple of minutes, your butter should begin to foam and browned specks should appear. Watch your butter closely! It should turn from yellow to a golden brown.
- Once the butter becomes a deep golden brown, transfer to a heat-proof bowl. This will stop the cooking process.
Burnt butter, which will leave black bits on the bottom of your pan, will have a very bitter flavor. If this happens, unfortunately, you'll need to toss it and try again. If you are nervous about this process, I recommend following the same steps on a lower heat to slow down the cooking process.
Here’s a video on how to brown butter if you’re looking for a visual, too.
Note that some of the butter evaporates while it’s browning, so you end up with slightly less brown butter compared to the amount of butter you started with. A good rule of thumb is for every stick (8 tablespoons) of browned butter, you need an extra tablespoon of solid butter to make it. For this recipe, I used 10 tablespoons of solid butter (1¼ stick) and ended up with just just over 8 tablespoons, or 1 stick. So, if you do decide not to brown your butter, you’ll only need ~8.25 tablespoons.
Recipe FAQs
I like to store these in the refrigerator. When chilled, they have the best doughy texture! They'll stay good for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
You MUST line your pan and grease it, too. This is SO important; your cookie bars will stick to the pan if not sprayed or lined properly. The apple cider caramelizes with the brown sugar and butter creating a sticky texture when cooled. Lining the pan is an easy way to ensure clean cuts.
You don’t HAVE to brown the butter, but I highly suggest it. It has a much bolder and richer flavor compared to regular butter. Plus, it only takes a few minutes!
Instead of the nut-butter caramel, you can use a store-bought regular caramel to drizzle on top, too. This is obviously an option too, if you'd just rather not make your own. It's still mighty delicious!
More Recipes You'll Love
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Recipe
Apple Cinnamon Bars
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Rubber Spatula
- Measuring cups and spoons
- 8 x 8 pyrex pan
- parchment paper
- sauce pan
Ingredients
Blondies
- 1 sliced pink lady apple
- 1 stick browned butter, cooled
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup apple cider
- 1 ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp apple pie spice, or ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- dash sea salt
Caramel Drizle
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp honey
Instructions
For the Apple Cinnamon Blondies
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat - whisking once it starts to bubble. Continuing stirring in an oscillating motion for 2-3 minutes until butter starts to brown and has a caramel smell. Once the butter is browned, immediately pour butter into a mixing bowl. Let it cool for 3-4 minutes before continuing next steps.
- To the bowl, add in light brown sugar, coconut sugar, and apple cider. Fold until the sugars dissolve into mixture and no clumps remain.
- Crack egg & 1 yolk, and add vanilla extract into the batter and mix until smooth.
- Add in all the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, apple pie spice, sea salt, and baking powder) into the bowl before combining with the wet ingredients.
- Line 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Add batter to pan and spread evenly.
- Slice 1 apple into thin pieces and lay across top of the batter.
- Bake for 27-30 minutes until the center of the bars are firm.
- Let blondies cool for 30-60 minutes before adding caramel.
For the Caramel Drizzle
- In the same pan used for browning the butter, over medium heat coconut oil with the honey. Whisk continuously until smooth throughout.
- Remove from heat and stir in nut butter: I love date pecan butter, but almond butter works just fine too!
- Once thoroughly combined, drizzle over your COOLED blondies and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you're using MyFitnessPal, search 'A Paige Of Positivity' and find Apple Cinnamon Blondies calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Sarah says
From one Michigan girl to another - if you want Fall in a bite, make these blondies ASAP!
So quick and easy to make, my boyfriend and I devoured them in 2 days (and that was controlling ourselves)! I used pumpkin pie spice, and left the caramel drizzle extra runny to basically coat the whole pan and they were perfect.
Courtney Paige says
Ahh!! Another MI gal, love to hear it.
Sydney Van Acker says
they ooey-gooey almost fudge like texture is for me. I'm not sure if I should've baked them longer, but I absolutely loved how rich and soft the inside of these bars were
Courtney Paige says
These are so flavorful! Love these in the fall with a glass of cider.