These Vegan Apple Butter Blondies are the perfect fall treat! Soft and chewy, with fresh apple pieces, sweet apple butter and a crunchy cinnamon sugar crinkle top. Easy to make in one bowl but a little harder to stop eating.

Ingredients in Vegan Apple Butter Blondies

Apple Butter: store-bought or homemade apple butter makes these vegan blondies super soft and chewy. I recommending using unsweetened apple butter so your blondies don’t turn out overly sweet.

Vegan Butter: my go-to is always earth balance, but choose your favorite non-dairy butter. If you are not vegan or avoiding dairy, regular butter will also work!

Brown Sugar: for sweetness and texture, light or dark brown sugar keeps these vegan apple butter blondies perfectly soft and moist.

All Purpose Flour: I haven’t tested this recipe using any other types of flour so I wouldn’t recommend making any substitutions.

Baking Powder: while these vegan apple butter blondies are dense and chewy, they do require a leavening agent to ensure they don’t turn out gummy. Make sure your baking powder is fresh for best results.

Cinnamon & Nutmeg: for a little more fall flavor. Apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice works great too!

Fresh Apple: a peeled and chopped apple adds a nice tartness to these sweet blondies. I used honey crisp, but any variety works.

Granulated Sugar: In addition to brown sugar, you’ll need a few tablespoons of fine cane sugar for sprinkling over the blondies before they go in the oven. This creates a delicious crunchy crinkly topping.

How to Make Vegan Apple Butter Blondies

These vegan apple butter blondies are easy to make, only requiring one bowl and just about 10 minutes of active time!

Start by preheating the oven and lining an 8×8 baking dish with parchment. I find that greasing the dish before laying the parchment down helps it sty in place. Make sure to leave an inch or two hanging over the edge so you’ll be able to easily remove the blondies once they bake.

Next, beat together the apple butter, melted vegan butter, vanilla extract and brown sugar. Then add the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined. Try not to overwork the dough to avoid gummy blondies. The dough should be similar to cookie dough. Finally, fold in the chopped apple.

Press the dough into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle a good amount of granulated sugar on top. Bake the vegan apple butter blondies for about 25-30 minutes. You’ll know they’re ready when the edges are firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

For clean cuts, allow the blondies to cool in the pan for at least half an hour before removing and slicing. Serve warm, at room temp, or slightly chilled. Enjoy!

Tips and Substitutions

• For more fudgy blondies, bake for a shorter time—around 25 minutes. For cakier blondies, bake for longer—30 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, but I found that 27 minutes was perfect.
• While these apple butter blondies are delicious by themselves, they also go well with vanilla ice cream or caramel sauce.
• The blondies are best served day of while the top is still crunchy, but they will last in the fridge when sealed in an air tight container for up to a week.

More Vegan Dessert Recipes to Try

• Pumpkin chocolate chip streusel bread
• Cinnamon roll muffins
• Maple glazed apple fritter waffles
• Raspberry chocolate chip cookies
• Salted caramel rice krispie treats

Made this recipe? Tag @wandering_chickpea on Instagram and follow along on Pinterest for more delicious recipes!