Applesauce Bars with Browned Butter Icing

Applesauce Bars with Browned Butter Icing are the perfect quick dessert recipe for fall. Moist and cakey bars are filled with applesauce and cinnamon flavors, and topped with a sweet browned butter icing.

Fall has some of the best and most comforting flavors and spices. My applesauce bars with browned butter icing are no exception.

These bars are so soft and moist, they’re almost cake-like. They’re also filled with fall-favorite spices, like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. They are practically mini spice cakes in bar form.

Take a look at the ingredients list – it’s short and simple. Plus, the applesauce does the heavy lifting in this recipe, so no eggs are required. 

Browned Butter Icing

My favorite part about this recipe? The browned butter icing.

I’ve you’ve never made browned butter before, you’re in for a treat. In short, you melt butter on the stove top and cook it until it begins to turn a warm brown color.

Browning butter brings out a nutty and toasted flavor to the butter. It adds an extra layer of flavor to the icing that can’t be beat.

How to Make Applesauce Bars

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 square baking pan with parchment paper. Set this aside for now.

Next, gather your ingredients. For this recipe, you’ll need melted butter, flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, unsweetened applesauce, brown sugar, baking soda, vanilla, and salt (not pictured).

In a bowl, add all of your wet ingredients: melted butter, brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.

Then, add all of your dry ingredients: flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking soda. Stir until all of your ingredients are incorporated. Then, pour your batter into the prepared 8×8 pan. Your batter will be thick, so I recommend using a spoon or spatula to spread it all the way to the edges in an even layer.

Bake your bars for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with crumbs) from the center of the pan. The top and edges should be lightly browned.

Place your pan on a cooling rack and allow them to come to room temperature before frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare your browned butter icing. You’ll need confectioner’s sugar, milk, browned butter, and vanilla extract.

If you’ve never browned butter before, here is a quick tutorial. 

How to Make Browned Butter

Add your butter to a saucepan over medium heat. It will melt and become bubbly.

Keep a close eye on your butter and stir frequently. Eventually, it will turn a golden color and small brown flecks will appear at the bottom of the pan. This will happen anywhere between 4-7 minutes in.

Once you have a good amount of brown flecks at the bottom of the pan, remove your butter from the heat and allow to come to room temperature. 

Your butter doesn’t have to be cold or solid, but should not be hot when preparing your icing.

To make your browned butter icing, add your confectioner’s sugar to a bowl and whisk to remove any lumps. Then, add your milk, browned butter and vanilla extract. Beat until combined and mixture begins to look fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Spread onto cooled bars and using a knife or spatula, spread to the edges. Allow frosting to set for a few minutes before cutting and serving.

How to Serve Applesauce Bars

These applesauce bars are very moist and cake-like, and can be served a few ways. First, they can be served as bars. Meant to be picked up and eaten like a brownie or cookie – no utensils needed. 

If your bars turn out extra moist (this will depend on how wet your applesauce is), they may be too messy or tender to pick up and eat by hand. These bars are practically like a piece of spice cake.

You may prefer to serve your applesauce bars like a piece of cake, served with a fork. Either method is perfectly acceptable.

More Fall Dessert Recipes

Looking for more dessert recipes for fall? Here are some of my favorites, including a few with browned butter.

• Heidesand – German Browned Butter Shortbread Cookies
• Applesauce Cupcakes with Browned Butter Frosting
• Maple Glazed Cut Out Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Puppy Chow Snack Mix – reader favorite snack!
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Candied Pumpkin Seeds
• Pumpkin Sugar Cookies – reader favorite cookie!

Print Recipe

Applesauce Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

Applesauce Bars with Browned Butter Icing are the perfect quick dessert recipe for fall. Moist and cakey bars are filled with applesauce and cinnamon flavors, and topped with a sweet browned butter icing.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time22 mins

Total Time32 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: applesauce bars

Servings: 16 squares

Calories: 163kcal

Author: Heather

Ingredients

Applesauce Spice Bars

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Browned Butter Icing

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Applesauce Spice Bars

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and set aside. 
• In a bowl, add wet ingredients: melted butter, brown sugar, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. 
• Pour into 8x8 pan and use a spatula to spread evenly to the edges. Batter will be thick.
  
• Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with crumbs, not batter). Allow to cool completely before frosting. 
  

Browned Butter Icing

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and stir frequently. Butter will begin to foam and boil. After 3 to 4 minutes you will see brown flecks appear in the bottom of the pan. Continue to stir until butter is golden and flecks are a medium brown color. Watch closely, butter will brown quickly. Process will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
• Remove butter from heat and pour into a small bowl. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes, or allow to set until butter is room temperature. 
  
• Whisk confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Add cooled butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk. Beat until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add more milk if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time until desired texture is reached.
  
• Pour icing onto bars. Use a knife to spread evenly over bars. Allow icing to set before cutting into bars. 

Notes

Bars can be served alone or with a fork to eat like cake. Depending on the moisture in your applesauce, bars may turn out more cake-like and tender. 

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 18mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 26mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 210IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg