Cinnamon Sugar Apple Blondies

It seems like most of the recipes that I have made lately contain apples in some form. Some use apple cider, others use these diced cinnamon apples. The original recipe for these bars called for diced fresh apples. The ones I used are dried and are sprinkled with cinnamon sugar but have worked beautifully in all of the recipes I have tried. They are very handy to have on hand, and since they are dried, they have a longer shelf life. This is an ingredient that I absolutely want to have available!

These blondies were called snickerdoodle apple blondies, but I don’t think that everything with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top needs to be called a snickerdoodle. I love snickerdoodles, but there are elements that are classic to a snickerdoodle that aren’t found in this recipe. Not to take away from these bars at all, as they are fantastic, but they aren’t really snickerdoodles.

These bars require no unusual ingredients. Since I had the diced cinnamon apples, I didn’t even need to have apples, although they aren’t too hard to have on hand. This dough is quick to mix together, and the hardest part of this recipe is getting the dough spread evenly in the pan! I used a little less cinnamon in the cinnamon sugar as the diced apples also contain cinnamon. The top of these cookies puffs a lot, which can also happen with piecrust, but they are fine once they cool. These are so chewy with great flavor, and they are an easy recipe that you can put together at any time.

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Blondies
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of diced cinnamon apples
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the diced cinnamon apples. Spread the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the mixture as much as possible.
Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a thin knife inserted into the bars comes out clean. Allow the bars to cool.

Once the bars have cooled, remove from the pan and peel away the foil. Cut into 16 bars.

Recipe from Rumbly in my Tumbly