Apple Blondies
In this update to our dairy free, nut free, and soy free blondies, we’re giving our blondies a fall-themed makeover.
There is time to think of pumpkins and all things pumpkin spice.
When September first hits, I think of apples. Picking apples, apples and honey for Rosh Hashanah, mini apple pies (gluten-free too!), and most importantly, biting into a crisp, sweet-tart apple.
Mixing fall flavors into a classic baked good? Sounds like a recipe for success. But only if we can get the balance right!
Method:
Recipe source:
For the base, I used this blondie recipe that I covered in this OG post. In this version, I doubled the recipe to make a full 9x13 pan.
To infuse apple flavors, I followed some of the ingredients and proportions recommended in Sally’s Baking Addictions’s Brown Butter Apple Blondies.
Allergen Adaptations:
1. I used a neutral (canola) oil instead of melted butter in the original recipe, and did not brown any butter per Sally’s recipe (I’m sure it’s delicious, but spoiler alert, so was this version). In my original post, I had just learned that "vegetable oil" is actually soybean oil, so instead I used pure canola oil to ensure that my soy-free taster could enjoy.
Previous procedural note: With oil being so much easier to mix with sugar than butter is, you might be tempted to skip the step of beating the fat and sugar for a few minutes. Committing the extra few minutes with your stand mixer or hand whisk helps create some airiness combined with the richness of the final result.
Why oil and not a butter alternative? Your choice should be dependent on the goals of the recipe. There's no universal rule about which choice is better. Sometimes, your choice may be informed by whether you are looking for a finer crumb with lift, like a fluffy cake (in which case butter, beaten with sugars, may be best), or whether you're looking for something really rich and tender, like I was looking for in these blondies. Often, it's a little of trial and error, which is what this blog and the scientific process are here for!
2. I omitted the pecans in the base recipe. I've had these blondies with pecans and walnuts, and can testify to their deliciousness, but due to lack of having any in my pantry I just omitted, and may have added a few extra chocolate chips to make up for the texture.
3. Instead of adding in chocolate chips, I added in apples! I precooked mine, similar to Sally. However, instead of cooking them down in a pan, I took the even easier route of microwaving them with 2T brown sugar and 1/8 t cinnamon for 5 minutes.
Cooked apples with brown sugar and cinnamon
4. I also added 1 t cinnamon and 1/4 t nutmeg to the dry ingredients to boost fall flavors.
Apple blondie batter
5. To be fancy, I made a simple glaze to decorate the top once it was baked. I added about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl, poured in about 1 t maple syrup, and drizzle of Ripple Kids (a pea protein-based milk alternative).
With some drizzle
Channel your inner Jackson Pollock!
Results:
These were enjoyed by all reviewers, adults and littles alike!
Discussion:
The flavors were at once unexpected but also familiar and comforting. To me, it evoked the sensation of wearing your first fall sweater on that first slightly crisp fall day. These would taste great paired with a chai latte or fresh, local apple cider!
Or eat them for breakfast. They have apples!
These apple blondies feel strangely metaphorical of the early fall season. It’s a time that is familiar to many of us, bringing routines of holidays, going back to school, and changes in weather that we’ve been through before. However, because it’s been a year, and we’ve changed in that time, it feels new and unexpected again. Coping by going back to fundamentals, but infusing what you’ve learned along the way, and sprinkling a little fall magic, can help you ease into the season before we go full pumpkin and Thanksgiving crazy.