These soft and chewy brown butter apple blondies combine cinnamon-spiced apples, brown sugar, and flavorful brown butter. We’ll top them with brown butter icing, a reader favorite icing that I also use for peach Bundt cake and pistachio cookies. If you love apple desserts like I do, these are a must-make!
Alternate title for this recipe: Butter
Let’s celebrate apples with immensely buttery blondies. The good news is that this recipe makes a large 9×13-inch pan, so there’s plenty to share.
But the bad news is… you have to share them.
These Brown Butter Apple Blondies Are:
- Cinnamon-spiced
- Soft and sweet
- Chewy, not cakey
- Flavored with brown sugar and brown butter
- Bursting with apples
How to Make Brown Butter Apple Blondies
Listen up because there’s a few steps to conquer before we take that first bite.
- Brown the butter first. We’ll use brown butter in the blondies and in the icing. Pour the browned butter into a heat-safe bowl, then return the pan to the stove. No need to clean the pan because we’re using it in the next step.
- Peel, chop, and gently cook the apples. You *could* stir the apples right into the blondie batter, but the apples taste much better if they’re slightly softened first. Cook the chopped apples on the stove for only 3–5 minutes. We’ll cook them with a little maple syrup (or brown sugar) and cinnamon. IT’S ALL SO GOOD!
- Make the blondie batter. There’s no electric mixer required for this recipe! Whisk the brown butter with brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, and the pre-cooked apples, then spread the batter into a lined 9×13-inch pan.
- Bake until lightly browned on top. The blondies take about 35 minutes.
- As the blondies cool, prepare the icing. Mix a little more brown butter with confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Here are the gently cooked apples and the blondie batter:
Success Tip: Lining the pan with parchment paper makes it much easier to remove the apple blondies before slicing and serving. I use the same tip when making rice krispie treats and M&M cookie bars, too.
Best Apples for Brown Butter Apple Blondies
You can use your favorite variety of apples. I prefer tart Granny Smith apples because the blondies are pretty sweet. For a complete list of my favorite apple varieties to bake with, with a description of each, you can visit my post, The Best Apples for Baking.
The Magic of Brown Butter
Let’s talk about brown butter. I actually created a page for all things brown butter including the quick process, success tips, and a video tutorial. Brown butter is a one-ingredient wonder and vasty improves the flavor in any dish where it’s used, including these blondies and these marshmallow crispy cookies. Brown butter by gently cooking and stirring it on the stove until its milk solids toast and it has a nutty aroma. This takes anywhere between 5–8 minutes, so it’s a pretty quick step.
And well worth every single second. In less than 10 minutes, you’ll have liquid gold:
Brown Butter Icing
The blondies don’t *need* icing, just like we don’t *need* to binge-watch Netflix on a Sunday night. But we want it, so we’ll do it.
This is the same brown butter icing we use for pistachio cookies, skillet cornmeal cake, pecan sugar cookies, and brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies. It’s remarkable and readers have been raving about it on my peach Bundt cake. Try it on scones and cinnamon rolls too. (You won’t regret this icing, unlike the 4 hours of Netflix binge-watching.)
More Apple Treats
- Classic Apple Pie
- Homemade Apple Cider
- Apple Cinnamon Bread
- Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Caramel Apple Scones
- Apple Hand Pies
- Apple Bundt Cake
- Fresh Apple Cake
- Honeycrisp Apple Sangria
Brown Butter Apple Blondies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 24 blondies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft and chewy brown butter apple blondies combine cinnamon-spiced apples, brown sugar, and flavorful brown butter. For extra flavor, top with brown butter icing. Read recipe Notes prior to beginning.
Ingredients
Apples
- 2 cups (240g) peeled chopped apples (about 2 medium apples)
- 2 Tablespoons (30g/ml) pure maple syrup (or brown sugar)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Blondies
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
- 2 and 1/3 cups (291g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 and 2/3 cups (330g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Brown Butter Icing
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (30g/ml) milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Brown the butter for the blondies and the icing: Place all 20 Tablespoons of butter in a light-colored skillet over medium heat. (Light-colored helps you determine when the butter begins browning.) Stir or whisk the butter constantly as it melts. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam. Keep stirring. After 5–8 minutes, the butter will begin browning—you’ll notice lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan and it will have a nutty aroma. As soon as the butter has browned, immediately remove from heat and pour it into a heat-safe glass bowl or liquid measuring cup. Be sure to scrape out all the browned solids at the bottom of the skillet and include them as well. Transfer 3 Tbsp (43g) of the browned butter to a small bowl and reserve for the icing in step 7. The rest will go into the blondie batter in step 5. Because of moisture lost during the browning process, you will now have less butter than you started with—this is expected. Allow brown butter to slightly cool while you continue.
- Prepare the apples: Meanwhile, return the pan to the stove. (No need to rinse out!) Add the apples, maple syrup/brown sugar, and cinnamon. Stir and cook over medium heat until apples have slightly softened, about 3–5 minutes. Set apples aside.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift out the cooled blondies (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Make the blondies: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the apples. Batter will be thick.
- Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out *mostly* clean. Remove from the oven and allow the blondies to cool completely in the pan set on a cooling rack.
- Make the icing: If the brown butter you set aside for the icing has solidified, warm it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt it back into liquid, then whisk together with the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. If needed, add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, or more milk to thin out. Drizzle or spread over cooled blondies.
- Lift the blondies out of the pan by gripping the parchment paper overhang; transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares. Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Iced or plain blondies freeze well up to 3 months. Arrange in even layers in a large freezer container between sheets of parchment. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then allow to come to room temperature before icing and/or serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Light-Colored Skillet or Stainless Steel Skillet (for browning butter) | 9×13-inch Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula
- Apples: Use your favorite variety of apples. I prefer tart Granny Smith apples because the blondies are pretty sweet. Peel and chop into bite-sized pieces before using.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Super super good! Sally did it again!
Holy moly! I’m not even usually a fan of blondies (give me all the chocolate things please!) but I made these today for a taste of Fall. And Sally has done it again! One warm, gooey bite and I was sold. The only adjustment I made was to add cream cheese to the frosting and it’s a hit! Will absolutely make again.
Any chance these could be made with Earth Balance vegan butter and a flax egg replacer? Or any other recommendations for trying to satisfy some vegan appetites with this recipe?
Hi Amy, We have not tested this recipe with either of those substitutions but let us know if you try. If you are interested, here are all of our vegan recipes.
This is a delicious recipe! I made it without the icing, about 1/3 cup less brown sugar, and added in about 1/2 cup butterscotch chips I happened to have. I used one honey crisp apple and a Granny Smith. I understand why some people would find these too sweet, but I’m thoroughly enjoying them. Thanks for another winner!
My boyfriend took one bite, looked at me wide eyed and went “… give me more.” Id say they were a hit!
Made these last week. Cut them when cool, lifted out of pan in parchment sling, put in plastic freezer bag & froze. Defrosted in refrigerator. Frosted when at room temp, substituted apple cider for the milk. Took to a “drive-thru-Covid-event”. Served to the “worker-bees” to rave reviews! Sally’s correct – very sweet. Next time will use lemon zest instead of vanilla in icing to balance flavors. Thanks, Sally!
Could I just use regular melted butter, instead of the browned butter? Same amount?
Thanks!
You could, yes.
I JUST got finished making these & they should come with a WARNING label! It took EVERYTHING I DON’T have in me NOT to eat the whole dish! AGAIN…where is the warning label? They are now my son’s new favorite, the cinnamon ones WERE at the top but these knocked them out. I don’t have white or light colored cookware so I was VERY careful not to burn the butter. To my fellow Sally addicts…be CAREFUL, you’ll NOT want to share.
These were amazing!
I found them to be too sweet, quite overwhelming. It tasted like mostly brown sugar.
FYI this worked amazingly with King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour. I messed up and only browned enough butter at the start for the batter and not the icing as well so I skipped it but will definitely try it next time!
Wow. These are awesome!! Perfect fall treat when you don’t want to make a pie or crumble. I always bake with salted butter (just what I have on hand) and they were delicious!!
This is the best thing I’ve made in a very long time, and it got rave reviews from family and kids that don’t like fruity desserts. Perfect consistency! I sautéed my apples for a bit longer so they were silky smooth and really blended into the blondie. I want to make another pan soon!
Several people in my family won’t touch anything with fruit in it so I was wondering if the recipe would work the same if the apples were omitted and it was just a Brown butter Blondie recipe? Thank you.
Hi Lisa, You can leave the apples out without making other changes. We do have a few other flavors your family may also enjoy. Just type “blondies” into the search bar at the top of this page for more options! 🙂
Made this recipe tonight and the family loves it!! Another winner from Sally!!
Best. Recipe. EVER!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, these blondies are PHENOMENAL! I’d been wanting to try a browned-butter recipe for quite a while, and I decided that these were a good option to do that, plus use some of the delicious honeycrisp apples we’d bought at Costco…boy, did I underestimate how amazing these were going to be!! The browned butter smells heavenly, and the mixture tasted SO GOOD–the browned butter gave it all these delicious caramel-y undertones! And the fully baked blondies are just as good, with a texture that is between soft/cakey and chewy. All in all, these are some of the best things I’ve ever made and/or eaten, and I will definitely be making them again!!
Made these this weekend and they were PERFECT! My icing turned out a lot thicker than the picture but man it was good! Thank Sally!!!
The best. Definitely a make again. I didn’t read carefully and spread the icing. It worked fine. I’m not a good drizzler anyway. I also made the brown butter oatmeal pumpkin cookies. Also excellent. Just working my way through your Fall cookie recipes. Thanks.
Loved these…and mine came out quite cakey which was not how the result was described. I do have a gas oven that seems to cook things more quickly and my toothpick came out totally clean, so perhaps I just need to bake for a little less time? Even with the cakey texture everyone loved these. Browned butter makes everything better.
Plus I realized the trick with sautéing the apples in the remnants of the browned butter with the maples and cinnamon is an amazing dessert over ice cream or pound cake on it’s own. Add some Trader Joe’s candied walnut on top and you have a hell of a fall dessert.
I also have a gas oven and only cooked them for about 22minutes and they were a smidge over done. Still absolutely delicious though!
I made this for the first time yesterday and shared it with friends. This is a knockout recipe. I followed the directions exactly and this is a perfect fall dessert. I will definitely make this again (maybe tonight ).
Ugh… these are so gooood! I wish I had known earlier what a game changer brown butter is! I will definitely be making these again soon!
I made these and they were absolutely delicious. Everyone who tasted them loved them. Will definitely make again.
ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS! I used a smaller pan as I wanted thicker blondies. Very easy recipe to follow and the result is just fabulous! These are the perfect fall treat. Thank you!
These are amazing. The texture turned out like a cake for me but we still loved it. Sprinkled some sea salt on top and it was awesome. Wondering what I can change to get the blondie texture?
Hi Erica! So glad you enjoyed these. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of baked goods when adding a wet ingredient such as apples. You can try reducing the amount of apples or even chopping the apples and letting the apple chunks sit out at room temperature for several hours to help dry them out a bit.
Hi Sally! Any issues with halving the recipe? If not, what size pan would be best (and what would the baking time be)? Thanks!
Hi L! You can definitely halve this recipe for an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking pan.
Hi, Sally! Can the brown sugar in this recipe be replaced with coco sugar?
Hi Tricia! Do you mean coconut sugar? Yes, I can’t see why not!
Hi Sally! I want to make these soon! 🙂 When we brown the butter, are we using 1 and 1/4 cups of butter? Or is it two sticks and then reserving 4 tablespoons for the icing? Hope that makes sense, thanks!
Hi Chelsie, You are using a total of 1 1/4 cups of butter, yes! One cup (2 sticks) is for the blondies and the additional 1/4 cup is for the frosting.
My second recipe from your site. These are over the top amazing! I used green apples and the blondies were not too sweet. Hubby and 2 kids loved them too. And, just like your Glazed Orange Bundt Cake recipe, this one worked beautifully with Cup4Cup Gluten Free flour. I am curious about the batter, it looked like taffy before it baked. I wonder if that was expected or a result of the GF flour? Either way, this is an amazing dessert, thank you for sharing your talents!
Hi Amanda, This batter is very thick! We are so glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe was absolutely amazing!!! My whole family wouldn’t stop complimenting them. I reduced the sugar i used in the blondes and added more milk to the icing. Thank you for giving me a recipe my friends and family would beg me for
I have never browned butter and could not believe the enhanced flavor it added to the blondies! It’s almost a butterscotch flavor. SOOOO delicious. Thank-you for this tip.
Another recipe I made using brown butter lately since my husband now obsessed with brown butter. He liked these bars. So did my father. My mother thought they were too sweet. (I think blondies tend to be on the sweet side anyway).