These Brown Butter Apple Blondies are fall in every bite. They're chewy & have a fudgy texture! They're made with a wonderful base blondie recipe and filled with spiced apples, then topped with a butterscotch glaze.
Baking with apples is one of my favorite things, so I always love when I have extra apples laying around, because it means I get to experiment. These Brown Butter Apple Blondies are absolutely delicious, and are filled with fall flavors and smells. The brown butter, apples, and spices make the perfect pairing in this recipe.
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Brown Butter: This recipe is elevated by browning the butter. It gives the blondies a nutty and toasty flavor and it pairs great with the apples and spices.
- Chewy texture: These blondies have a fudgy and chewy texture, exactly like a blondie, but with apples!
- Easy & Quick: The recipe is straight forward and pretty easy. It also doesn't take much time to put together.
- Spices & apples: If you're an apple lover in the fall, this recipe is perfect! These Brown Butter Apple Blondies are packed with warm spices.
- Butterscotch Glaze: Adding the butterscotch glaze to the top takes these blondies to a whole new level of flavor. The glaze is filled with brown sugar, making it the perfect pairing.
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Butter: For this recipe, I use brown butter, which is melting the butter, then continuing to cook it until it browns. This gives the blondies a rich and nutty flavor.
- Brown sugar: This recipe uses all brown sugar, which pairs perfectly with the apples and spices. The apple mixture as well as the butterscotch glaze also use brown sugar. Either dark or light work in this recipe.
- Eggs: I use one whole egg and one egg yolk.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- Salt: balances out the sweetness and adds more flavor.
- Flour: All purpose flour works best with this recipe.
- Baking powder: Just a little to help lift the blondies.
- Spices: Cinnamon and nutmeg are used in the blondies and cinnamon is used in the apples.
- Apples: I used one large apple for this recipe. My favorite is honeycrip.
- Pecans: Chopped pecans taste amazing with the apples and spices.
- Heavy cream: A little heavy cream for the butterscotch glaze.
See recipe card for quantities.
Step-by-step instructions
For the Brown Butter
STEP 1: Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes. You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring and remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly before continuing with recipe.
- The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.
Hint: Let the brown butter cool before adding the brown sugar and egg, otherwise the egg could scramble.
For the Apples
STEP 2: In a medium sauce pan on medium heat, combine apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon and mix, and cook until the apples are slightly tender, about 5 or so minutes. Add the pecans and stir and let cook another 30 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.
For the Blondies
STEP 3: In a medium bowl, add cooled butter and sugar and mix using a spatula until combined. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
STEP 4: Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mix. Lastly, fold in the apples/pecans.
STEP 5: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. You'll see the sides get a little light brown and the middle will have puffed up some. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Don't over bake.
For the Butterscotch Glaze
STEP 6: In a small sauce pan, add the butter and let it melt, then add the brown sugar and stir. Pour in the heavy cream and mix it well, then add a pinch of salt and mix. It will start to bubble up. Let it cook for a couple minutes, then remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes before topping the blondies.
Hint: The Butterscotch glaze can be optional. The Brown Butter Apple Blondies are delicious all on their own.
Substitutions & Variations
- Caramel: Instead of a butterscotch glaze, you can drizzle the blondies with caramel sauce.
- Mix-ins: Instead of pecans, you can add any other type of nut, or toffee bits.
- Apples: Feel free to use whatever type of apple you love in baked goods. I tend to go for the sweeter apples like honeycrisp.
Storage
To store, wrap up in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.
Pro Tips
Measure Ingredients Correctly: As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don't burn the brown butter: Once the brown butter starts to pop, foam, and form specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it. Otherwise you could burn it and it will end up tasting bitter.
Don't over mix: Using a spatula instead of a hand mixer reduces the chances of overmixing, but once your ingredients come together, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking the blondies at 25 minutes.
Cool completely: Make sure you let the blondies cool completely.
Parchment paper: To avoid sticking, make sure to line the pan with parchment paper.
FAQ
Apples that are firm and hold their shape and texture are best for baking. I prefer to use honeycrisp or gala, but you can use your favorite in this cake. I'm no apple expert, but here is a guide from Sally's Baking Addiction on baking with apples.
Brown butter instead of regular or melted butter creates a deep and nutty flavor that gives off notes of caramel.
More apple recipes to try:
- Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake
- Salted Caramel Apple Bars
- Apple Crumble Cheesecake
- Apple Cheesecake Brioche Buns
📖 Recipe
Brown Butter Apple Blondies
Ingredients
Apples
- 1 large apple peeled and diced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Blondies batter
- 10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter see notes
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar packed
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¾ cup (210g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Butterscotch glaze
- ¼ cup (50g) brown sugar, packed dark or light
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
For the Brown Butter
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes. You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.10 tablespoon (140g) unsalted butter
- Once butter is browned, pour it into a heat proof bowl and set it aside to cool for about 5 or 10 minutes.
Apples
- In a medium sauce pan on medium heat, combine diced apple, brown sugar, and cinnamon and mix, and cook until the apples are slightly tender, about 5 or so minutes. Add the pecans and stir and let cook another 30 seconds, then remove from the heat and set aside.1 large apple, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ cup chopped pecans
For the Blondies
- Mix the batter: In a medium bowl, add cooled butter and sugar and mix using a spatula until combined. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and mix. Lastly, fold in the apples/pecans.1 cup (200g) brown sugar, 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1¾ cup (210g) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- Bake the Blondies: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. You'll see the sides get a little light brown and the middle will have puffed up some. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Don't over bake.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Butterscotch glaze
- While the blondies cool, make the glaze: In a small sauce pan, add the butter and let it melt, then add the brown sugar and stir. Pour in the heavy cream and mix it well, then add a pinch of salt and mix. It will start to bubble up. Let it cook for a couple minutes, then remove from heat and pour into a heatproof bowl and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes before topping the blondies.The blondies are delicious alone, but the glaze gives it more flavor. You can either spread it all over, or drizzle it.¼ cup (50g) brown sugar, packed, ½ tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon heavy cream, pinch of salt
- Sprinkle sea salt and enjoy!
Notes
- Once butter is browned, it should measure out to about 110-115 grams.
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