Apple Toffee Blondies with Brown Sugar Frosting

Growing up, one of my favorite desserts was my grandmother’s apple cake. When we would visit my dad’s parents, that was one dessert that we’d commonly have. While my grandmother did have a recipe, I think she really did most of her baking and cooking by intuition, or maybe she had just made things so often that she didn’t really measure. I’ve made the apple cake from her recipe, and there’s just too much batter for the pan. It was still great though. Since then I have had a fondness for apple desserts.

I always look forward to the fall when it is the perfect time to bake with apples. Ok, I bake with apples all the time, but I can step it up more in the fall. I’ve had this recipe saved for a long time, but for whatever reason I’ve never made it. The recipe isn’t hard, and doesn’t really use unusual ingredients, so I am not sure why I waited so long. (On another note, I seriously need to go through my saved recipes and mark down somehow which I have made and which I haven’t.)

When I made these bars, I lined the pan with foil, which I think made the bars stick somewhat. I think I would have been better off just spraying the pan with cooking spray. I also used one big apple, which was more than a cup. You really need to chop the apples finely. Mine were too big and/or I had too many apples, so it was hard to incorporate them fully into the dough. While these bars are a bit gooey, they are so good! The apple paired with brown sugar (3 cups total in this recipe) is fantastic! These are perfect for fall, or any time of the year that you want a nice apple treat.

Apple Toffee Blondies with Brown Sugar Frosting

⅔ cup butter, room temperature

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup peeled, finely chopped apple

½ cup toffee bits   

½ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup milk

2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again on medium until incorporated. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the apple and toffee bits with a spatula. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of the bars comes out clean. Allow the bars to cool for an hour.

Make the frosting: in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and milk and stir to combine. Cook over medium until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Allow the frosting to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk again, and then spread the frosting over the cooled bars.

Allow the frosting to set for 30 minutes before cutting into bars.

Recipe from Cookies and Cups