Apple Peanut Butter M&M's Blondie Bars #FlavorofFall
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If you like snacking on peanut butter and apples, you'll LOVE these bars! A thick and fudgy whole wheat blondie is infused with apple sauce, oats, and peanut butter, and studded all throughout with peanut butter m&m's! It's a fun #FlavorofFall treat your whole family will enjoy.
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
As sorry as I am to see all the summer-y berries and stone fruit go, I think my kiddos are ready for a change. They started asking for apples and pears a few weeks ago, and now their time has come and I couldn't be happier to get back to the #FlavorofFall.
Apples are truly a staple in our house, especially at this time of year. Apple juice quenches their thirst, apple sauce goes in their lunchboxes, and after school, we're all about fresh apples dipped in peanut butter.
Now that they're (finally!) settling into their new school routine (and doing such an excellent job, I might add), I thought it might be fun to offer them a special treat as a reward. When they get off the bus today, I'll be greeting them with a sweet homemade treat, inspired by the fall flavors we all love so much.
Last time I was at Walmart I grabbed a couple bags of these fun fall m&m's flavors. They had candy apple m&m's, which I thought sounded interesting, but I couldn't resist grabbing a bag of my favorite peanut butter variety too. Just like always, I stocked up on apples, apple juice, and apple sauce too. My kids would never forgive me if we didn't have a stockpile, at all times.
I mixed up the applesauce into my favorite peanut butter blondie recipe, and threw in some oats too, to make them extra chewy and satisfying. Then folded in a few handfuls of those peanut butter m&m's. My kids CANNOT resist the bright colors. They are completely drawn in by anything "rainbow!"
These things are omgdelish. The apple flavor really shines through in the peanut butter blondie, with those chewy oats and peanut-buttery m&m's. Definitely pin-worthy, or you can use the handy "Save Recipe" feature in the recipe card below 😉
Hope you're enjoying the #FlavorofFall too! And getting into the swing of back to school. Last week I was feeling like it was all such an uphill battle, getting them into the new routine, but things are much better now! Sometimes all it takes is a little positive reinforcement, so we set up a little rewards system, and yesterday they came home and got right into their homework without any begging or pleading! I'm so pleased, and really looking forward to rewarding them with this yummy treat 😉
This is a sponsored post on behalf of #CollectiveBias, Mars m&m's, and Motts. All opinions expressed herein are straight from my heart.
As an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Peanut Butter Apple Blondie Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, (1 stick), softened
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- 1 egg, (large)
- ⅓ cup (81.33 g) applesauce
- ⅓ cup (86 g) peanut butter
- 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup (40.5 g) old fashioned oats
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (258 g) peanut butter m&m's
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, lightly mist an 8x8-inch square pan with non-stick spray, and line with parchment.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
- Add the egg, and mix until incorporated.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl with a silicone spatula, and add the applesauce and peanut butter.
- Add the flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt, and mix on low speed until combined.
- Fold in most of the Peanut Butter M&M's, reserving a handful for topping.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan, and top with the reserved M&M's.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
These bars are absolutely gorgeous Allie! Love that they are loaded!
Thanks Jessica! I like that description- "loaded." The peanut butter M&M's made them such a great treat 😉
Peanut butter slathered on an apple is one of my favorite fall snacks .... so clearly these bars sound absolutely amazing! And how fun!?! Happy weekend lady!
Thanks Ashley! Hope your weekend was lots of fun too. Thanks so much for the great feedback; I'm so happy you liked the bars! 😀
Apples & Peanut-Butter have ALWAYS been a go-to snack, love these bars!
Thanks Rachel! And same here 😉
Oh oh, pick me! These look soooooo amazing! YUM!
Yay! So happy you like, Jess! Hope you're enjoying the weekend!
Okay these officially look fantastic. I've never actually had blondies before, but this peanut butter apple combo has me convinced I need to make this very, VERY soon. 🙂
Oh ya, definitely! They're like a brownie, only peanut-butter-appley. Hope you enjoy!
Any ideas on how to make these gluten free?
Well, gee, that's really not my area of expertise, to be honest! But I can refer you over to a couple of friends who specialize in that sort of thing. There's thesweet-toothlife.com, Mary Francis does a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free treats. And then there's acleanbake.com, where Nora takes it even a step further and eliminates refined sugar. They both have a lot of really great bar recipes that you could maybe adapt to include peanut butter and applesauce. Good luck and I hope that helps, Lori!
I love these blondies, Allie! I have whole wheat flour and apple sauce that i've been meaning to use. This recipe came at the perfect time! Printing so that I can make these this weekend.
Oh yay! I'm so happy it worked out for you. Hope you enjoy Nancy! xo
Peanut butter m&m's have to be the best m&m flavour ever.. I can imagine how good these delicious bars must have tasted. Definitely craving one right now!
Thanks Thalia! I don't buy much candy but I could not stop popping these into my mouth. You're right- they're amazing!
These bars are brilliant for the fall!! I love apples and peanut butter together!! And they look adorable!! 🙂
Aw thank you Renee! I do too... I'm so happy you like them; thanks for the sweet comment! 😀
I would love to come home to a plate of these festive bars - they look so tasty and fun! Such a great idea to add applesauce in here too – sounds amazing and perfect with the peanut butter 🙂 Love these - pinning 🙂
Thank you so much for pinning, Kelly! And for the sweet comment too. Hope you're having an awesome weekend, sweetie!
I'm a BIG apple person too. And pb m&ms is my go to flavor! I actually hate plain m&ms but love the pb flavor. And I love the peanut m&ms that are sold in Europe. Sounds strange but the peanut m&ms in France tasted wayyyy better than the ones here. I think there is a difference in the sugar and also food coloring. Anywho enough peanut m&m rant. I'm loving this flavor combo Allie!!
I wouldn't be too surprised about that Kelly- I know the coca cola is different in Europe and Mexico... So strange! Well next time I'm in France I'll be sure to pick up a bag, lol! Thanks for the great feedback and hope you're having a great weekend!
M&M's, apple sauce and peanut butter?!!! Winning!!! love these, Allie!
Thank you so much Alice! Hope you guys have a great weekend xo
These look incredible, Allie! I love the flavor combination.
Thank you so much, Jen! We were really happy with the flavor, and the texture was so fudgy too. Hope you have a great weekend! 😀
Love it! And the kids will too. Festive and cute.
Have a marvelous weekend Allie!
🙂
Aw, thanks Melanie! And you too! xo
Allie these look amazing! I love the fun twist of adding applesauce - what a great idea! Apples with PB are one of my favorite snacks ever! Hope you have a great weekend!
Me too, Cate! I just love that flavor combo and so do my kids. So happy you liked, thank you for the sweet comment!
They look delicious Allie, I love this recipe! I'll take two please! 🙂
Yay! So glad you liked; thank you for the great feedback! Hope you have a fun weekend 🙂