Apple Blondies with Caramel Glaze (Gluten Free, Paleo + Vegan)
These Apple Blondies are full of warm spices and topped with an absolutely scrumptious (and SUPER easy) caramel glaze. These chewy, soft apple blondies are gluten-free, paleo and vegan.
Alright I’ve finally taken a 5 minute break from drowning in everything pumpkin to tell you about my other (and first) fall flavor love: apples!!! I’m a NUT for apples – I love them so much, and some of my favorite desserts, apple crisp + apple pie, have them as the star.
They’re also delicious as a snack, sliced super thin and served with all. the. homemade. nut. butters. But I digress, because today we’re not talking about nut butter, we’re talking about BLONDIES. And if you’re here, you probably love blondies just as much as I do (which is with all your heart).
Blondies are essentially the blonde version of brownies, with nut butter to add richness, and the flavors of vanilla and spices taking over for the usual chocolate. This blondie is also studded with diced apple chunks, which add some texture and a burst of juicy sweetness.
Paired with the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and applesauce, you get a blondie that’s almost fudgy in texture, despite it’s lack of chocolate, and full of the flavors that make you get all the autumn feels. If you want a bit of crunch in there too, you can add chopped pecans or your nut of choice, but I prefer the crunch to be left to the topping.
And about that topping…let’s talk about it, because it is GOOD and it is IMPORTANT. These blondies are dang good without the caramel glaze, but with it?? They’re out of this world. It honestly couldn’t be easier to make either, since it’s just three ingredients and you have to cook zero things.
I promise, once you discover this quick and easy caramel sauce/glaze, you’re going to want to drench it on top of everything you eat. Once it’s drizzled/slathered/drenched on top of all the apple blondies, garnish with a whole pecan. You could also do chopped pecans to disperse the crunch, but I just think the whole pecan on top looks so pretty
When the caramel sauce firms up, it gets fudgy and then melts in your mouth. The caramel flavor pairs perfectly with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and apple flavors, too. These were a perfect dessert at night with a cup of cinnamon tea – I savored each and every bite of this deliciousness. I hope you’ll give them a try and love them as I have! Enjoy.
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Apple Blondies with Caramel Glaze (Gluten Free, Paleo + Vegan)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 blondies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Apple Blondies are full of warm spices and topped with an absolutely scrumptious (and SUPER easy) caramel glaze. These chewy, soft apple blondies are gluten-free, paleo and vegan.
Ingredients
- ½ cup nut butter of choice, I used almond butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (72g) almond flour
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup peeled & chopped apple bits
For the caramel glaze
- 3 tablespoons cashew butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 16 whole pecans, toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8” square baking pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the almond butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined. Stir in the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Fold in the chopped apples.
- Spread evenly in prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, and then transfer to the refrigerator to cool completely.
- While the blondies are cooling, prepare the caramel glaze. In a small bowl, whisk together the cashew butter, maple syrup, and coconut oil until smooth. If the ingredients are not all the same temperature and any clumping occurs, heat in the microwave for 15-30 seconds to smooth it out.
- Cut the blondies into 16 squares. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled blondies, garnish with one whole pecan per blondie, and let set in the refrigerator. Store leftovers tightly sealed in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutritional info is calculated without the caramel glaze.
Nutrition
- Calories: 149
- Sugar: 11
- Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 14
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 3
Hi,
this looks wonderful – you say in the instructions to add pumpkin, but i don’t see it listed on the ingredients… how much do I need?
thanks in advance
Hi Angela, oops! I copied the instructions from the wrong recipe, the updated recipe is up now.
Thank you
Have you ever considered putting the nutritional/calorie content with your recipes? It would be great to know calories, as well as fiber, protein, etc. for those of us that keep track of that.
Hi Heidi, I don’t count macros so I don’t include it on all of my recipes, but I do include the info on some of my treats, and I’ve added it here for this recipe for your convenience. You can always input recipe links here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe_parser to calculate nutritional info too.
Thank you :)
These look delish! Can I sub the almond and coconut flour with regular flour? Would I use the same amount? Thank you!!
Hi Emily, I haven’t tried it that way so I’m not sure and can’t make a confident recommendation – I would probably use at least a full cup of flour though, since coconut flour is extra absorbent.
Hi Rachel, thanks for the reply! I ended up making these yesterday. I used the almond flour and subbed 3/4 cups of regular flour for the coconut flour (I didn’t know coconut flour was so absorbent! I read that 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup coconut flour = 1 cup grain-based flour). They turned out delicious! The drizzle sauce is amazing. This will now be in my fall recipe rotation — thank you!!
So happy to hear it worked out and that you’re loving them!! Enjoy :)
Hey, is it possible to freeze them? Maybe without the glaze?
Hi Laura, yup these should freeze just fine! Will probably be less messy to defrost without the glaze.
Hi there,
I made these this morninf and the flavor is incredible but they are completely soft…It’s like cutting theough something that isn’t baked. I did bake them an extra 4 minutes than the recipe says. I cooled them on a rack and then in the fridge but they are total mush! Help what did I do wrong?
Hi Lin, if your apples were extra juicy, the extra liquid could have caused them to be extra soft. Unfortunately without being in the kitchen, it’s hard for me to say exactly what went wrong though! Sorry you had trouble :(
Very yummy! This is my first time making a vegan dessert and not only did these turn out perfectly. They also tasted so good! :) Thank you for this recipe!
So thrilled you’re loving them, Isabella! Thanks for your feedback :)
Hi there,
Quick question -for the carmel glaze, could I use almond butter instead of cashew butter? OR is using cashew butter pretty important?
Thanks!
Lisa
Hi Lisa, yup any nut butter will be fine, I just find cashew butter to give the most buttery “caramel-like” flavor. Almond butter will totally work, though!
This is a five star recipe even without the glaze. I didn’t have the ingredients to make the glaze, and planned on eating it for breakfast anyway, and it’s delicious as is! Very flavorful and simple.
So thrilled you’re loving it! Thanks for the feedback, Mary :)
Was excited to try this one out (balancing different sets of food sensitivities in a group I bake for) and they were dfinitely tasty and the glaze/pecan topping looked great. However, mine came out very crumbly, so even though I waited until they were quite cool before cutting, the squares were losing their corners as I moved them.. My apple was a Fuji, and fairly dry. Should I add more of the almond or coconut flour, or bake longer, do you think?
Hi Barbara, sorry you had some issues with these!! Sometimes if the apple chunks are too large, it can cause that to happen, or if they’re too wet! I would try cutting smaller apple cubes and adding a touch more almond flour – that should help things out!