Cinnamon Roll Blondies

A lazier (but just as delicious) way to enjoy cinnamon rolls! These cinnamon roll blondies are ready in 30 minutes and finished off with a dairy free cream cheese glaze.

Ughhhh cinnamon roll blondies!! Why did I not think of this sooner. After making my actual cinnamon rolls 800 times before getting them exactly perfectly right, I thought I needed a recipe that tasted like cinnamon rolls, but didn’t require several hours of rising and rolling and rising again.

Don’t get me wrong, the rising and rolling and waiting is well worth it for those cinnamon rolls, but tbh when my sweet tooth has a craving, I usually need something ASAP.

That’s where these gluten free blondies come in! They’re SO easy to make, gluten free with a vegan option, swirled with cinnamon sugar and finished off with a simple cream cheese glaze. May or may not have eaten three of these in one day. Not mad about it.

A traditional blondie is essentially a chocolate chip cookie in bar form, but these blondies don’t have any chocolate and instead have a cinnamon swirl for lots of flavor. Try my cinnamon roll pancakes or single serve cinnamon roll next!

How to make blondies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small dish, combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, apple sauce, melted butter and vanilla.

Add in the remaining ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour, don’t scoop from the bag. Stir together with a wooden spoon until combined.

Add half of the batter to an 8×8 baking pan lined with parchment paper and spread evenly. Sprinkle on half of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top.

Add the rest of the batter on top, spreading evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect. It helps to use a rubber spatula. Sprinkle on top the rest of the cinnamon sugar and use a toothpick to make swirls. You can easily skip the swirling step, but it does look nice to include it!

Bake for 21-28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing,

Whisk together the ingredients for the glaze, then drizzle on top of the blondies once cool. Cut into 16 slices. Enjoy and try my carrot cake cinnamon rolls next!

Ingredient substitutions

Egg: Since there is only one egg in this recipe, it’s very easy to swap with either more apple sauce or a flax egg or other egg replacer. If you are going to use applesauce, you’ll need about 3 tablespoons to replace the egg.

Flour: I have not tested this recipe with any other flour other than all purpose flour (I of course use gluten free), and I don’t think other flours will work. Regular all purpose flour will work just as well, but almond or oat flours will completely change the recipe so I don’t recommend trying those!

Sugar: You can swap the brown sugar in the actual blondies for coconut sugar and swap the white sugar in the swirl for coconut sugar as well. I do not recommend a liquid sweetener like maple syrup here.

Butter. I suggest butter for the best flavor, whether vegan or regular, but you can use refined coconut oil if you’re in a pinch.

Storage tips

Whenever a recipe calls for apple sauce, I have found that it needs to be stored in a very particular way or it can turn kind of mushy really quickly.

With these cinnamon roll blondies, I find it best to store them on a plate or in a container with the lid slightly ajar or with foil on top. If you seal the container too tightly, they almost get too moist/soggy. You can also store these in the fridge, where they will keep for about 5 days vs. 3 on the counter.

Why is my blondie cakey?

That is usually due to too much flour or too much baking powder or soda. This recipe does not use any baking powder or soda and instead utilizes just one egg to get a little bit of rise, but not so much that the blondies are cakey.

Over baking can also lead to cakey blondies, so if you prefer them more gooey, bake for a shorter amount of time or just until a toothpick comes out clean.

Try these gluten free desserts next!

• Gluten Free Brownies
• Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
• Vanilla Cupcakes
• Vegan Blondies

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