These maple apple blondie bars are a perfect fall dessert recipe. Blondie bottom, apple pie-like filling and topped with real maple syrup frosting. This would make a great apple thanksgiving dessert recipe or just a fun festive baked good to bring to work or bake sales. No matter what you make them for, this apple bar recipe will be a hit!
Ingredients in Maple Apple Bars
Apple Filling Ingredients:
Apples – Use about 3 large apples or 4 medium sized apples. Whatever kind of apple you have on-hand should work. I just used regent variety from our local Peake orchard near Waukon and they worked great!
Brown Sugar – whatever kind of brown sugar you have- dark or light.
Butter- unsalted works but salted would be fine too.
Cinnamon & Vanille- if you’re like me, you measure both of these with your heart, but 1 tsp is about the right amount, ha-ha.
Blondie Bars:
Flour- I used all-purpose flour. You can try other flours too but I’m not sure how they would compare.
Sugar – both white and brown
Eggs – 2 large eggs
Butter, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Baking Powder – the small but mighty ingredients.
Maple Frosting:
Real Maple Syrup – not Aunt Jemima’s, sorry. I get mine at Sam’s Club.
Powdered Sugar, Vanilla, Butter, Cinnamon – all pretty self-explanatory.
How to make Maple Apple Blondie Bars
- Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 8-1/2 by 11 cake pan or a similar size. I have gone up to an 11×17 Nordic pan, which tasted great, but bars were thinner.
Apple Pie Filling
- Peel and dice your apples, add to a medium sized pot. Add the remaining apple filing ingredients and set on medium heat until brought to a simmer. Remove from the heat once simmering. Let cool for a few minutes while making the blondie batter.
Blondies
- Add softened butter to mixer bowl and cream until fluffy. Then, add the sugars in and mix until smooth.
- Crack the eggs in a bowl, and then add them to the mix. Beat the batter and then add the vanilla. Continue mixing and use a rubber spatula if needed to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Once that is mixed well- add the dry ingredients of the blondie bars. (flour, baking powder, cinnamon) Stir this until well combined.
- Split the batter in half. Spread the first half of the batter on the bottom of your greased pan. I used a rubber spatula to get the batter spread well. Set the other half aside for after you make the apples.
- This step can be tricky- you are going to pour the apple mixture on top of the blondie mix in the cake pan, spread the apples evenly. If they get kind of mixed in with the batter- it is OK.
- Next, add the remaining blondie batter to the top of the apples. This may be easier said than done. I found that using my hands helped spread the batter better. It is going to look messy, and you likely won’t completely cover the apples. That is OK- trust the process.
- Bake at 350 F for 25-35 minutes. This will depend on your pan size. Make sure to check the blondies with a toothpick at 25 minutes and continue baking if the pick does NOT come out clean. Let your bars cool at least 10 minutes before adding the maple frosting.
Maple Frosting
- On medium heat, add butter to medium pot and get it melting. Next add the maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk well- bring it to a simmer and then remove from heat.
- Once off heat- add the powdered sugar in and stir until well combined. Give the frosting 5 minutes to cool before adding to cooled bars. This helps thicken it
Substitutions and Variations
There aren’t too many tried and true ways to substitute ingredients for this apple bar recipe.
Use variations of apples
Sprinkle crushed pecans on top when frosting is still warm
Frost with a maple flavored cream cheese frosting instead.
How to store apple bars
Cool the bars and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Freeze: to freeze, cool and then store in a freezer safe container. If going to layer the bars, put wax paper between each layer to prevent them sticking together. Even better if you flash freeze the first layer, then add wax paper or parchment/freezer paper, then add next layer and flash freeze again. This process would really help from sticking. I freeze these apple bars so that I don’t eat them all in one sitting!
Maple Apple Blondies FAQ
Absolutely. These freeze very well. Just cool and store in freezer safe container. If layering, add freezer or wax paper in between to prevent sticking.
Yes! Bring these to your holiday parties like Thanksgiving, a fall work party or bake sale.
I used a regent (similar to fuji or gala) but I think any kind of baking apple would work just fine!
Tis the season for apples. If you have a lot of them- try making your own applesauce to can or freeze OR dehydrating them into apple chips.
More Recipes like Maple Apple Bars
Looking for all things fall? Try our pumpkin cream cheese cookie recipe.
A great holiday dessert for chocolate lovers is our Chocolate Sweetened Condensed Milk Bars.
Apple Pie Bars may also be a recipe to try if you like these! Would be tasty with a maple glaze on top.
A great Thanksgiving Side Recipe is our Creamy Cheesy Corn Recipe.
More recipes you may like
Cowboy Cornbread Casserole Recipe
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I hope you enjoy these Maple Apple Bars – Bobbi Jo
Maple Apple Blondie Bars
Equipment
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 medium sized pot for frosting and apple pie filling
- cake pan 8-1/2 by 11 inch or slightly bigger
- standard cooking utensils
Ingredients
Blondie Bars
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup butter, unsalted softened (2 sticks)
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Apple Pie Filling
- 3 large apples peeled and diced small
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp unalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Maple Frosting
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup real maple syrup
- 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a 8-1/2 by 11 cake pan or a similar size. I have gone up to an 11×17 nordic pan, which tasted great but bars were thinner.
Apple Pie Filling
- Peel and dice your apples, add to a medium sized pot. Add the remaining apple filing ingredients and set on medium heat until brought to a simmer. Remove from the heat once simmering. Let cool for a few minutes while making the blondie batter.
Blondies
- Add softened butter to mixer bowl and cream until fluffy. Then, add the sugars in and mix until smooth.
- Crack the eggs in a bowl, and then add them to the mix. Beat the batter and then add the vanilla. Continue mixing and use a rubber spatula if needed to scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Once that is mixed well- add the dry ingredients of the blondie bars. (flour, baking powder, cinnamon) Stir this until well combined.
- Split the batter in half. Spread the first half of the batter on the bottom of your greased pan. I used a rubber spatula to get the batter spread well. Set the other half aside for after you make the apples.
- This step can be tricky- you are going to pour the apple mixture on top of the blondie mix in the cake pan, spread the apples evenly. If they get kind of mixed in with the batter- it is OK.
- Next, add the remaining blondie batter to the top of the apples. This may be easier said than done. I found that using my hands helped spread the batter better. It is going to look messy and you likely won't completely cover the apples. That is OK- trust the process.
- Bake at 350 F for 25-35 minutes. This will depend on your pan size. Make sure to check the blondies with a toothpick at 25 minutes and continue baking if the pick does NOT come out clean. Let your bars cool at least 10 minutes before adding the maple frosting.
Maple Frosting
- On medium heat, add butter to medium pot and get it melting. Next add the maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk well- bring it to a simmer and then remove from heat.
- Once off heat- add the powdered sugar in and stir until well combined. Give the frosting 5 minutes to cool before adding to cooled bars. This helps thicken it.
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