Maple Frosted Apple Blondies — these are moist dense blondies studded with tart apple chunks and topped with an ultra-sweet maple glaze — hello Fall!
maple frosted apple blondies are hard to resist
I recommend having company around to help out with the eating part (you don’t want to be left alone with a pan of these, trust me.)Â I’ll be honest, these blondies are intensely sweet, sweeter than most of the desserts here at tvfgi. And there’s something about the texture of the blondie paired with the maple sugar frosting (and the bits of tart Granny Smith apple) that makes them irresistible. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
what you’ll need for moist apple blondies
When I have an idea for a recipe I often start by going back to something I’ve already had success with to use as a base for my experimentation. In this case I loved the texture of my Banana Blondies, and figured they’d be a good starting point for these. I guessed I could easily replace the mashed banana with apple butter, since they both have a similar consistency, and I was right. I was able to add the chopped apples without any other adjustment, so it was a pretty straightforward adaptation.
- apple
- apple butter
- maple syrup
- butter
- cream
- brown sugar
- confectioner’s sugar
- egg
- flour
- vanilla
- cinnamon
- salt
infusing maple flavor into the frosting
Maple is a fabulous flavor but it can be difficult to infuse into baked goods. I like to reduce pure maple syrup by boiling it, which concentrates the flavor. In essence I make a maple caramel base for this frosting — and the result is a fudgy maple layer that is sooooo good.
TIP: You can infuse maple into your baking in several other ways. For instance there is maple extract, (use it just like vanilla extract) maple powder, (dehydrated maple syrup) and maple sugar, (use it in a 1 to 1 ratio for regular sugar.)
The maple/caramel frosting sets up fast, so have everything ready to go and spread it immediately after pouring it onto the (mostly) cooled blondies.
TIP: Be sure to sift your powdered sugar, if you skip this step you can wind up with lumps in your glaze.
We adore maple!
- Maple Walnut Blondies
- Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins
- Maple Walnut Butter
- Maple Pecan Pound Cake
- Maple Frangipane Pecan Pie
- Salted Maple Caramel Sauce
- Maple Glazed Oatmeal Cookies
Maple Frosted Apple Blondies
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
Ingredients
blondies
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1 medium apple, peeled and finely diced (1 cup)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
maple frosting
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp cream, or milk
- 1 1/2 cup powdered, confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Lightly spray a 9×9 square baking dish.
- Beat the butter and sugar together until well blended.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon. Fold in the apple butter and the chopped apples.
- Fold in the flour, mixing just until combined.
- Spread the batter evenly into the baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until set in the middle and a toothpick comes out without wet batter clinging to it (there can be moist crumbs.) Cool on a rack.
- To make the maple frosting, put the maple syrup in a medium saucepan and bring it to a boil Boil for about 5 minutes, until reduced to 1/2 cup. Take off the heat and add the butter and cream and stir to combine and melt the butter. Whisk in the sifted powdered sugar and blend until smooth. Pour over the blondies and spread out with a spatula. The frosting will set up quickly so don’t dawdle.
Notes
- Granny Smith apples (the green ones) are great in this recipe because their tartness contrasts with the overall sweetness of the bars, plus, they hold their shape and don’t turn to mush.
- Line your pan with parchment paper with overhanging ends so you can lift out your blondies for neater cutting, if you like. I did.
Nutrition
Awesome recipe! Making it again and double it! Quick question, how do you store these the best way possible as so they don’t dry out?
They don’t really dry out, in fact they get moister as they sit, so I wouldn’t worry about it for a day or two.
These are absolutely fabulous!!!! Everyone loved them….WOW!!!!
Followed the recipe, batter flavor was amazing but when cooked the texture was a little dark and dense. My niece’s comment was they taste a whole lot better than they look! Not sure if it was something I did or the fact that there was not a leavening ingredient. If I made again, would try adding a leavening.
Hi I’m so excited to try this recipe, it looks amazing! I’m in ireland and can’t get apple butter here, I’ve looked up some recipes for it but it looks like it’ll take a couple of hours to make. Can I substitute homemade apple sauce instead?
I would cook down the apple sauce on the stove to reduce some of the liquid, Anna, that will concentrate the flavor and make it thicker.
That’s great thank you so much! I will comment again when I’m done 🙂
This definitely needs at least an hour to bake.
also, I didn’t have a sifter, so I just put the maple frosting back on the stove, so the heat would melt the powdered sugar clumps. worked fine.
I only used about half of the frosting.
I was disappointed that the frosting turned out more like syrup than like frosting. The picture makes it look better than it turned out. I used Log Cabin maple syrup (a cheap brand), maybe that is why?
thx.
Do you think it would work to make these up ahead and freeze them for 1 month (minus the frosting)?
Yes, that should work fine.
I tried these and put 1/2 the icing and they were amazing but still too sweet for our taste. I would like to double the blondie part and put the remainder icing on them. What size pan would you suggest I use or do I use the same size and they are just thicker. I am a nurse here in Florida and I like to bake and take things in to make our shift easier.. Thanks for taking to the time to respond.
Hi Nicole! First of all, thank you for all you’re doing on the ‘front lines’ <3 And I think a 9×13 pan would work because the blondies are so moist you don’t want them much thicker than they are.
Not sure what I did wrong-my icing came out runny, thick, sticky? Not enough powdered sugar? Tasted great though.
Make sure you boil the maple syrup down, Lisa, that reduces excess water and concentrates the flavor.
Love this
I saw your banana blondies too. I do the maple frosting on my version of banana cake – use maple extract and which is awesome too. Brought back great memories
Sue,
I keep meaning to comment on your recipes but the truth is, I have been trying about 2 a week for the last 6 months and they are all amazing…seriously. I just don’t have time to comment on evey one but I will try to cimment on more…promise. This one I made to take to a party this past fall and they were devoured in no time and 2 of the guests were professional chefs and wanted the recipe. I had extra frosting and saved it in the refrigerator for weeks (no problem) and then used it for your caramel apple bundt cake that I used for another party and didn’t have time to make the sauce. I warmed it up and poured over the cake and it was perfect. I am enjoying trying all these new things and so are my family and friends as they are the recipients!
Love this Patty, and I appreciate you coming back to comment, it helps the site thrive, for sure. I’m so happy that you’re loving the recipes, I’ll keep them coming!