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Among the stash of old recipes I was fortunate enough to inherit from my mother, we found a little pink notebook with – you guessed it – even more recipes that my mother had written down!
The notebook contained mostly dessert recipes (my mom had quite the sweet tooth!) and this recipe called Apple Chunkies immediately caught our eye!
Apple Chunkies are super simple to make and are great when you need a quick and easy dessert! A sweet butter and vanilla batter is mixed up with chunks of apples and chopped walnuts – then baked. (How easy is that!?)
These Apple Chunkies are sweet and dense and served cut into small little squares for serving and nibbling! And although the original recipe in my mother’s notebook did not include this – we added a simple caramel glaze to the top of the squares – but that is totally optional!
So – if you’re going apple picking this season – be sure to add these sweet little Apple Chunkies to your baking schedule! Enjoy!
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Apple Chunkies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 whole egg
- 1 peeled and cored Gala apple, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (or any hard baking apple will also work)
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
For the Glaze (optional)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium pan melt butter and remove from heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in sugar to dissolve. Add vanilla and stir again.
- In a small bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.
- Once the sugar mixture is cool, blend in the egg and mix thoroughly.
- Add the dry mix to the sugar mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the apples and nuts and stir.
- Butter an 8X8 pan and spread batter in evenly.
- Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- While the pan bakes, place glaze mixture in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil on medium and stir for one minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Once the pan comes out of the oven, let sit for five minutes then spread the glaze over the top. If the glaze tightened up while the pan baked, heat slightly to a spreadable consistency. The glaze should be the consistency of a soft jam or spread and not runny.
- With a sharp knife, cut rows 4 x 4 into 16 pieces.
- With a spatula, remove each piece to a platter and cool, or serve slightly warm.
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When freezing this do you freeze with the glaze on or without and then glaze later?
Hi Claudia – I’d suggest freezing it without the glaze, and then when you’r ready to serve, thaw and glaze at that time.
So easy and delicious! My family loved it!
Thanks Sabrina! Glad you are enjoying the recipe as much as we do!
Totally Perfect! Just the apple dessert I was looking for. I am tired of cinnamon in every apple dessert you can think of so this totally fit the bill – simple, caramel-y and chock full of tart apples ( I used Gravensteins) and walnuts – and no cinnamon! This recipe is a keeper, thanks!
Thanks Jan – glad you liked the recipe!
Martha, you really do great dishes ! Thank you very much !
Thank you!
Great recipe! Can I double the recipe and bake in 9×13 pan? Thanks!
Sure Sunny – the baking time will probably differ a bit but a double recipe should fill a 9×13 pan. Enjoy!
I made the best apple cake and it was very good
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
These look delicious. Do they freeze well?
Thanks Hannah – Yes – you can freeze these (just wrap tightly before doing so!).
Hi!
Can you double the recipe for a 9×13 pan?
Looks delish! 🙂
Hi Dawn – My apologies for the delay in responding – we just turned from a family vacation last night. Sure – you can double the recipe and a 9 x 13-inch pan should be about right. The cooking time may vary so just watch it as it bakes!
Hi … the flavor of these bars are delicious! Question, please … I placed the glaze over them as directed right out the oven. However, the bars came out very gooey – Im pretty sure I cooked them long enough. I used half/half instead of milk for the glaze. I don’t think that was it? Any thoughts?
It’s so hard to tell what went wrong Dana without being in the kitchen with you Dana! With baked goods, sometimes it can be differences in altitude, how the flour is measured, the size of the eggs used (we use large), etc. I’m sorry you were disappointed with the results. If they were too gooey, maybe add a little more flour the next time? Or, now that I’m writing this, it could be the type of apple used. Macintosh will bake down to a very mushy consistency versus other types that stay more firm during baking. Hope that helps!
Can these recipes be made into GF and if so what type of flour would you use . Looking forward to your response.
Hi Jackie – I’ve only made the recipe as written. I’ve heard good things about the King Arthur Measure for Measure Gluten Free Flour – that might be an option to try? Please let us know how it comes out!