Toffee apple blondies
This week is National Baking Week! Since I’ve been doing a bit more baking than usual lately (much to the annoyance of my waistline), I thought it deserved to be recognised. Are you guys planning any bakes this week? If you’re not a keen baker but you’d still like to get involved, these toffee apple blondies are really easy, and are the perfect autumnal bake.
These toffee apple blondies can be mixed up in one bowl (I don’t have any desire to give myself unnecessary washing up), and then you just need to spread the mixture out in a tray, and bake. No fancy decoration, no fussy processes or weird equipment. Just one big blondie, cut into slabs.
The end result is a really good cake, with juicy pieces of apple and chewy chunks of caramel. I bought the caramel bits in the US when I was there earlier in the year – if you can’t find them in the UK, you can either buy them online* at an extortionate price (£33!!!!!), you can experiment with using little pieces of toffee or fudge (though I’m not sure which kind would work well), or you can just leave them out. These toffee apple blondies are also drenched in toffee sauce (I couldn’t help myself), so you certainly won’t miss the sweetness.
To help celebrate National Baking Week, I’ve spent the last week stocking up on cookware and bakeware at HomeSense. If you’ve been following my Instagram stories, you might have seen that I’ve been to HomeSense about three times in the past fortnight. I can’t help it, I’m utterly obsessed with the place. If I’m anywhere nearby (or even if I’m not), I just find myself drawn in.
As well as stocking a million different kinds of crockery, pots, pans, and every other kitchen item you can think of, they have tons of really lovely trinkets and ornaments, paintings, rugs, cushions…
Looking around HomeSense, it’s like looking at my dream house, if only I was tidy and organised.
Everything you can see in these photos came from HomeSense (apart from the apples and the toffee apple blondies themselves – would be a bit scandalous if I’d bought those in…). I think I’d go so far as to say it’s my favourite shop. I could spend hours there.
I did manage to drag myself away eventually, though (whether or not I returned two days later is beside the point). Now my only challenge is stopping myself from eating three toffee apple blondies a day.
Toffee apple blondies
Ingredients
- 130 g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the tray (~ 1/2 cup melted)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 medium eggs
- 85 g caramel bits (~ 1/2 cup) - optional
- 2 small red apples, peeled and diced
- 225 g plain flour (~ 1 2/3 cups)
- 85 g light brown sugar (~ 1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 tbsp toffee sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F).
- Add the melted butter, vanilla extract and eggs to a large mixing bowl, and whisk to combine. Add the caramel bits (if using) and diced apple, and mix again.
- Next add the dry ingredients - the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Mix until well combined, but try not to overmix.
- Grease a brownie tray (mine measured 11 x 7 inches), and add the toffee apple blondie mixture. Spread the mixture out into an even layer, and bake for around 25 minutes, until the blondies are firm and golden brown, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Prick the blondies all over with a toothpick, and pour over the toffee sauce. Spread the sauce around so that it coats the blondies. Leave to cool, then cut into squares and serve.
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose.
Here’s another really easy bake – my caramel pear crumble cake, perfect for baking novices!
*This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a very tiny sum of money, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for the support!
Your Blondies look fabulous and perfect for autumn! I wish we had a Homesense nearby, hopefully they will open a branch near to me one day as their things do look fab:-)
Not a baker but holy moly those blondies look good! I always love apple in baked goods :)
Loving the idea of these autumn flavours in a blondie! Yum!
Toffee and apple is such a great combination, however £33 for some caramel is far too steep. Some alternatives will need to be experimented with!
Definitely haha! Someone mentioned fudge pieces, which sound like they’d work well :)
These look absolutely yummy, and so perfect for this time of year!
Oh, I could easily eat a whole batch of this! I love toffee apples, but my teeth don’t. So, this seems like a much better option!
Exactly – all the same flavour, with none of the tooth loss ;)
They look divine, and wonderfully autumnal. YUM!
PS know what you mean about Homesense. I can hardly go by the place without having to nip in ‘just in case’ :-)
Haha it’s magnetic isn’t it. I always come out with armfuls of stuff.
Fabulous autumnal combination for blondies.
I’m not sure I’ve ever been to Homesense, I need to seek out my nearest.
You really should, you’ll love it! So many beautiful items.
These look AMAZING, caramel chunks and toffee sauce sounds like my kinda recipe. But I wouldn’t spend £33 on those – haha – I use Waitrose’s fudge chunks quite a bit and they are awesome!
I don’t blame you!! Great tip on the fudge chunks, I’ll remember that for next time :)
Love that toffee sauce! These blondies look incredible. So perfect for autumn.
£33! I nearly spat out my coffee! Jeebus! On another note, I’m glad somebody else shares my HomeSense addiction. I was there just the other day “just for a look” and ended up with an armful of bits ^_^
These look stunning – the toffee/apple combo is always a winner :D :D
Haha it’s literally impossible to leave with less than 10 items. I spent £70 in there the other day haha
These look so delicious, love the fact that it is soaked in toffee sauce.
Toffee apple is one of my all time favourite flavours! I have never tried baking blondies, but I’m planning to give them a try this week. Pinning your recipe to try later!
£33 for caramel bits is extortion indeed – though, if you sold them with a side of these blondies, I might not mind the price as these are spectacular! Oooh and drenching them in that toffee sauce – wow! Currntly am on the Splenda #GoodbyeSugar30 day Challenge, but am pinning this to make as soon as I’m off it!
Haha yes these aren’t exactly low in sugar, but delicious nonetheless :D
Looks delicious! But I am not exactly sure what “caramel bits” are. Do you know the brand that you bought in the U.S.?
Please disregard my question! Just clicked on your link to purchase (33 pounds?!) and now I see what they are. I am in the U.S., but had no idea that they are sold like this – tiny and unwrapped so they are ready to melt or use in recipes. Thanks for the recipe! I was just invited to a “dessert potluck” so these will be the perfect fall dessert to make. :)
Ah ok, I assumed they were a common thing in the US! You could definitely experiment with using a different kind of toffee or fudge if you can’t find these ones. Or just skip them – the toffee sauce makes them plenty sweet enough anyway :)
Toffee and apple sounds like a great combination, adding baking these to my “to do” list.
Enjoy! :)