These Apple Pie Blondies are a must bake for Autumn. A brown butter blondie base is studded with sweet apples, cinnamon and nutmeg giving them a delicious rich flavour which is then drizzled with a brown butter icing.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
A great start to Autumn baking | Apples are coming into their prime in September so any bake that includes them is a great place to start when it comes to baking autumnal.
Full of rich and delicious flavours | As well as caramelised apples, this recipe is also packed full of cinnamon and nutmeg as well as a rich nutty brown butter. These flavours combined are a haven for the tastebuds that it’s impossible to only have one bar.
A fun twist on a classic bake | Who doesn’t love Apple Pie? It’s one of the best desserts that tastes even better on a warm autumn afternoon. This twist just brings it from dessert to morning and afternoon snacks and what’s not to love about that!
WHAT IS BROWN BUTTER?
Some call it liquid gold, other’s call it their secret weapon. One way of another this magic butter is one of the most loved ingredients in baking at the moment.
You may have heard the fancy French chefs referring to this as “Buerre Noisette”, and it’s a classic French ingredient found in almost every kitchen.
But put simply Brown Butter is exactly what it says, it’s butter that has been browned. This isn’t a speedy job though, as to get it browned the butter needs to be melted slowly over a gently heat, and it’s this process that intensifies the flavour. Once melted, the butter will simmer, sputter and foam. Usually at this point you’d remove it from the heat, but keeping it on causes the milk solids to darken and fall to the bottom of the pan to brown. Once the foam has started to disappear you’ll be left with a rich, silky brown juice that has an unmistakable nutty aroma that fills the air.
In baking it’s perfect in recipes such as these Apple Pie Blondies, but also tastes delicious in brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, layer cakes and pies like these Maple Pecan Bars
HOW TO MAKE APPLE PIE BLONDIES
There are a few key steps to getting these Apple Pie Blondies perfect.
Caramelised Apples | The first step in this recipe is getting the chopped apples softened and caramelised. To do this add brown sugar, butter and cinnamon into a pan and mix through the chopped apples. Gently heat them all together over a low heat until the butter and sugar melts then stir the mixture together and simmer for 5 minutes until the apples have softened.
Brown Butter | The Brown Butter in this recipe adds a lot of depth to the flavour and to get that the butter needs to be melted until it creates a rich nutty aroma. Add the chopped unsalted butter to a pan and gently heat it until the butter has melted and created a foam across the top. Keep the butter on the low heat stirring occasionally until the foam begins to disappear. What you’ll be left with is a deep brown mixture so take it off the heat and leave it to one side to cool slightly before using it.
Autumn Spices | Three key spices that are essential to Autumn baking include; Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, and Ginger and this recipe includes 50% of them.
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED
- 9×9 square inch tin, a good sharp edge like this one is good.
- Non-stick saucepan
- Non-stick Baking Paper
- Spatula
OTHER GREAT AUTUMN BAKES
Blackberry and Plum Frangipane Galette
Apple Pie Blondies
Ingredients
For the Caramelised Apples
- 180 g bramley apples Chopped
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 30 g light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the Blondie Base
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 150 g light brown suagr
- 3 eggs large
- 1 tsp double cream
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 275 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
For the Brown Butter Glaze
- 2 tbsp brown butter
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 75 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a square baking tin with non-stick baking paper.
For the Caramelised Apples
- Combine the apples, butter, sugar and cinnamon in a non-stick pan and heat them gently until the butter and sugar have melted. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes until the apples have softened then pour into a clean bowl and leave to cool.
For the Blondie Base
- Make the brown butter by adding the butter to a non-stick saucepan and cooking it gently until the butter begins to foam. Continue cooking gently for around 5 more minutes until the the foam disappears and the mixture turns a deep brown. Remove from the heat and take out 2 tbsp for the glaze. Let the mixture cool slightly.
- Combine the cooled brown butter, sugar, eggs, cream, vanilla and salt together in a medium bowl until smooth, then fold through the flour and spices followed by the cooled caramel apples.
- Pour the mixture into your baking tin and spread it across evenly then bake in the centre of the oven for 35 mintues until golden.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before removing.
For the Brown Butter Glaze
- Mix together the 2 tbsp brown butter with the cinnamon, double cream and icing sugar and beat until you have a smooth and glossy glaze.
- Drizzle the glaze across the blondies then cut them into equal squares and serve.
