♻️ Substitutions / Variations
I tend to use a cooking apple such as a Bramley apple for this recipe as it softens nicely when baked, but you can also use other varieties such as Granny Smith or Braeburn.
You can swap the cornstarch (a white fine powder called cornflour in the UK and other places) for plain all-purpose flour of the same quantity. However, cornstarch gives that tasty, shorter texture for chewier apple pie blondie bars.
For a less caramel toffee apple hint, swap the brown sugar for white sugar instead.
For more texture, add 50g (⅓ cup) chopped nuts to your spiced apple blondies, such as walnuts or pecans. Include these when you stir in the chopped apples to your batter before baking.
You can also frost or glaze your apple blondies for a sweeter apple dessert. Personally, I love using this easy caramel buttercream for delicious caramel apple blondies, but you could also try a maple glaze or a cream cheese frosting. All great fall dessert ideas!
For a richer, nuttier taste, you can make brown butter apple blondies. Increase the butter amount by an extra 1 tablespoon (15g) and heat all your butter on a medium heat in a saucepan, swirling often, until the melted butter turns a golden brown colour. This should take roughly 5mins. Allow your butter to cool for 10mins before beating in your sugar and continuing with the recipe.
To use a 9-inch square tin instead of an 8-inch tin, keep the recipe the same but bake for 5 minutes less. You’ll have a slightly thinner cinnamon apple blondie slice.
