Sooo, I was planning on going apple picking this fall. I had envisioned a beautiful fall day, the sun shining, a warm sweater and plenty of apples for the taking! Well, sometimes our plans and intentions fall short of life and what is going on. Unfortunatley I didn’t get to head out to the apple orchard in IN this fall. I had to go to my local orchard…Whole Foods. Look how beautiful the harvest was!!
And still plenty of apples to go around and use in all my apple creations! How lucky was I to fall upon this great bounty!
So, what to make? I love caramel anything but caramel and apples, um yeah. Who doesn’t love a warm cozy apple pie? Who wouldn’t love an apple pie with caramel? Even better! But, I wasn’t feelin’ making the apple pie yet so I opted for a more portable snackable solution to my caramel apple craving. How about caramel apple pie blondies? Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy a good brownie every now and then, but I must say, when it comes down to it, I am a blondie girl.
For this version I use a basic blondie base and bumped up the flavors using fresh apples, homemade caramel sauce (you could use store bought, but homemade tastes better). My go to for this recipe I discovered on Sally’s Baking Addiction, here is the link to her Salted Caramel Sauce. So simple and so good.
Then I used cinnamon chips combined with white chocolate chips in the batter. Also in the batter is your traditional warm apple pie spices. Yum! I used Granny Smith apples because they hold up in the baking and the tart flavor balances out the sweetness of the blondies and the caramel. I peeled, cored and chopped the apples and mixed in directly with the caramel to coat them all.
These babies do take a little while to bake with the added moisture of the apples and the caramel to contend with. Plus it’s a big ole pan of blondies. They will bake, depending on your oven, anywhere from 35 to 45 minutes. You want the top to be a nice golden brown and some cracks in the top. You will see some of the caramel rising and oozing to the top. Mine looked like this when I pulled them out.
Love that you can see those delicious apple chunks and caramel goodness. You have to let them cool completely in the pan before pulling them out and cutting into squares.
These also make cute little goodie bags if you are hosting a dinner party or if heading to a dinner. I like to gift them too. I like to give my treats to my friend who watches my dog Kea. She is also my taste tester! Look how adorable they are all packaged up.
Now check out my recipe below. Perfect sweet treat for this time of year or any time you are craving caramel apple pie!
- 1 ½ cup AP flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (or ½ tsp depending on your taste and spice level)
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 1 tbsp. arrowroot starch or cornstarch
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp allspice
- 2 eggs
- 12 tbsp. unsalted melted butter
- 1 ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 medium granny smith apples peeled cored and sliced into chunks
- Juice of half of a lemon
- ½ cup salted caramel sauce
- 1 cup cinnamon chips
- ½ cup of white chocolate chips
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 X 13 baking dish with tinfoil lengthwise and then another sheet the opposite direction. Spray lightly with cooking spray and set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice to combine.
- Next, whisk the wet ingredients in another medium bowl.
- First whisk the melted butter and brown sugar until combined.
- Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix well.
- With a rubber spatula gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Gently stir in the cinnamon and white chocolate chips. Pour just over half of the mixture into the prepared dish. Spread evenly to cover bottom.
- Combine apple chunks with the juice of half of a lemon, caramel sauce and arrowroot starch. Stir to combine.
- Pour apple mixture over batter and into an even layer.
- Take the rest of the batter and dollop spoon fulls over the apple mixture.
- Use an offset spatula to spread the batter over the apple mixture. Don't worry if it does not cover completely.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until top is golden brown and some cracks. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.
- Store in airtight container at room temp for 2 days and in the fridge for 3 to 4. Can be frozen as well. To thaw place in the fridge overnight. Best served fresh.
- Enjoy!
Leave a Reply