These soft and chewy vegan apple blondies with caramel sauce combine the flavors of apple cake and apple pie bars into one cinnamon-spiced fall dessert! The blondie recipe is very quick and easy to make, requiring less simple ingredients but SO delicious! So let’s start making them!
Vegan Apple Blondies Recipe
It’s finally time to celebrate the Apple season! Yay! So I kept the start simple and made these yummy vegan Apple Pie Blondie Bars that are quick and easy to make and perfect for any occasion! Since I’m totally obsessed with fresh and juicy apples in fall I will definitely share more vegan apple cake recipes in the upcoming weeks. My Top 3 favorite apple desserts I’ve already shared here on the blog are my:
I‘m absolutely a summer-loving girl but what I love about fall is that you can pick up fresh apples on almost any apple tree around you! We have so many here so there’s no need to buy apples in the store. Since there are usually even too many to eat them right away, I’m always looking for new ideas on how to use them up. But that’s great because I love creating new apple recipes!
Anyway, today’s recipe is one of those desserts you can make all year round! Not only to use up leftover seasonal apples but also to get a delicious cinnamon-spiced Apple pie dessert in a matter of minutes!
Apple Cake meets Brownies
These vegan Blondies are like apple cake but with the rich, dense and fudgy-like consistency of brownies. They’re loaded with healthy cinnamon apples, which add some texture and juicy sweetness. So if you love the taste of vegan apple pie or cake and the texture of brownies, these blondie bars will quickly become your favorite!
What are Blondies?
Actually, a blondie is a blonde version of brownies but with the flavors of vanilla and other spices instead of the traditional dark chocolate. Unlike a brownie, blondies do not always contain chocolate or white chocolate, but they’re as chewy, soft, moist and sweet!
Quick and Easy Recipe
As mentioned before, this recipe is super quick and easy! You need just Xx simple ingredients and 10 minutes to prepare the batter! These vegan Blondies are perfect to serve immediately when still warm or to make ahead to serve later! You can take them to work, school, university or enjoy at home in your cozy pajamas. So in other words, it’s just the perfect vegan fall dessert for any situation!
How to make Apple Blondies
Step 1: Peel and chop the apples
The recipe starts with peeling and chopping the apples. Then transfer to a bowl, add a bit of brown sugar or maple syrup and cinnamon. Toss to combine. You could cook the chopped apples in a pot for about 3-5 minutes until slightly softened. However, I stir them right into the blondie batter after tossing, keeping things easier.
Step 2: Make the Blondie batter
For this recipe, there’s no electric mixer required! You can stir together the Apple cake Blondie batter just with a spoon or spatula! Start to whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add melted butter, apple sauce or flaxseed eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine, then stir in the apples just until combined! As you can see on the photos, the batter will be thick similar to cookie dough.
Step 3: Spread blondie batter into the baking pan and bake!
Now spread the dough into a lightly greased baking pan lined with parchment. Since the batter will be also a bit sticky, I suggest using a greased spatula to flatten the dough.
Make Apple Pie Blondies or Cake Bars!
When baking these Apple Pie Bars, you can turn them into a cake or blondie consistency. If you want chewy brownie-like apple blondies, make sure not to over bake them. But if you prefer your bars turn out more apple cake-like, you must increase the baking time. I baked mine for about 35-40 minutes and they were absolutely perfect! They’re done when the center has set and golden-browned on top.
The perfect oven temperature
Since all ovens vary in power and temperature I recommend checking your oven with a thermometer if you have one. Trust me, it’s so much easier to bake and cook when you know your oven! So if your oven is hotter, you could lower the baking temperature or baking time. And if your oven is cooler, you can increase the temperature or baking time.
Vegan Caramel Sauce or Icing
The blondies don’t need icing or sauce, because they’re sweet and delicious on their own! But if you love toppings as I do, you‘ll add some, haha! I love to sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top of these apple pie bars for crunch plus a drizzle of vegan caramel sauce. But you can also add other nuts like pecans and another icing or serve with a scoop of ice cream! Yum!
These Vegan Apple Pie Blondie Bars are
- Dairy-free
- Egg-less
- Easy to make
- Cinnamon-spiced
- Soft & Flavorful
- Chewy & Cakey
- Loaded with healthy Apples
- So delicious!
- The perfect dessert for fall!
How to store Apple Cake Blondies
You can make a big batch of these bars in advance and store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They also freeze very well for up to 3 months. I suggest to arrange them in an airtight freezer container with sheets of parchment between each piece for single removal. To thaw, place a blondie or the whole batch in the refrigerator overnight.
Since butter or coconut oil gets firm as it cools, the blondies will be harder when chilled. I suggest removing the bars from the fridge 1 hour before serving to come to room temperature. Alternatively, pop in the microwave for a few seconds until soft and chewy again! Honestly, it’s so good!
If you’re looking for more vegan dessert recipes with fresh fruit, you may also like my:
- Chocolate Banana Bread
- Best Carrot Cake
- Apricot Coconut Cake
- Raspberry Almond Orange Cake
- Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake
- Vegan Cherry Pie
If you try this Vegan Apple Pie Bars with Caramel Recipe, please leave me a comment below sharing how you liked them! And if you take a photo of your Apple blondies and share it on Instagram, please make sure to tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your remakes! Happy apple season!
Apple Blondies with Caramel (Vegan Apple Bars)
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Cinnamon Apples
- 2 medium apples peeled & chopped
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Blondies
- 7/8 cup vegan butter 200g, or sub melted coconut oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250g, *see recipe notes
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg optional
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar 250g
- ½ cup apple sauce 120g, unsweetened, or sub 1 mashed banana or 2 (flax-)eggs, *see recipe notes
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Toppings (optional)
- walnuts chopped
- caramel sauce
Instructions
- *Note: I recommend watching the recipe video for visual instruction!
Prepare the apples:
- Peel and chop the apples. Add to a bowl with sugar and cinnamon. Toss to combine. (Optionally, you can cook them in 2-3 tbsp water over medium heat until slightly softened, about 3-5 minutes).
Make the Blondies:
- Preheat oven to 355°F (180°C). Lightly grease an 11x7-inch (or similar size) baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides (*as shown in the step-by-step pictures above).
- Slice the butter and place in a large pot or skillet. Slowly melt the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Add the melted vegan butter, apple sauce, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined, then fold in the chopped apples. (The batter will be thick and sticky).
- Transfer batter to prepared pan and press down into an even layer. (I suggest using a lightly greased spatula). Bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs attached. (The longer you bake the blondies, the cakier they‘ll be. So if you want chewy blondies, make sure not to overbake them.)
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. Then, lift out the blondies using the parchment overhang.
- Top with walnuts for crunch and drizzle with caramel sauce or serve as they are. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Instead of apple sauce, you can sub 1 small mashed banana or 2 flax-eggs. To make the flax-eggs, mix 2 tbsp ground flaxseeds + 6 tbsp warm water in a small bowl, then set aside for 5 minutes to thicken. (If you’re not vegan, you can sub 2 regular eggs).
- I recommend using all-purpose flour for the best texture. To make these blondies gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour blend 1:1. (Please take note that when using another flour like oat flour or whole grain flour, the blondies won’t get as soft as when using all-purpose flour).
- You can store leftover blondies covered at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months. I suggest to place them in an airtight freezer container with sheets of parchment paper between each blondie to avoid sticking. To thaw, place in the refrigerator overnight.
- They’ll be harder when chilled so I suggest removing them from the fridge 1 hour before serving to come to room temperature or pop in the microwave for a few seconds until soft and chewy again!
- Please read my blogpost for additional information about this recipe.
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These turned out perfectly and were so delicious! Crunchy/chewy on the outside and soft in the middle. I used a pumpkin spice blend instead of cinnamon+nutmeg and added some melted cookie butter as a topping. Everyone asked for the recipe!
Great, that makes me happy. Thank you for the excellent feedback! ☺️