Cinnamon Walnut Blondies (whole grain, dairy-free)
These 100% whole grain walnut blondies are a bit gooey, chewy and full of cinnamon! With a dairy-free option.
I shared the link to my upside-down apple honey cake in a recipe sharing group on Facebook and just got this comment (from someone who doesn’t follow me): “Sounds great, but I got bored getting to the real recipe.” Lol. People crack me up. I apologize if I’m boring anyone by discussing what works and what doesn’t with the recipes. And here I thought I was being helpful. ;) I seem to be very lucky that my readers don’t leave me these kinds of comments. So thank you, readers! I sure do appreciate it.
I wanted these walnut blondies to actually be maple walnut blondies, but I suppose when you add so much cinnamon, it overpowers the maple flavor. But that’s okay because they were still awesome. I brought these blondies and some regular chocolate brownies to a small get-together recently, and people kept coming back for the blondies. I was kind of sad for the chocolate brownie, but I just kept telling myself that people were feeling the warm, cozy flavors of the walnut blondies!
You’ll probably want to chop the walnuts a little finer than shown in the pictures. The smaller they are, the easier the blondies are to cut.
And definitely be sure to toast the walnuts a little bit first! That brings out the nutty flavor. I admit that it adds an extra step, which can be annoying, but it’s worth it. Don’t have walnuts? I bet these blondies would be great with pecans!
These walnut blondies are a bit ugly without something on top, so I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar over the batter. I love the little crunch it adds! Chocolate chips would also be nice.
Summertime and don’t feel like baking? This black walnut ice cream looks fantastic!
I hope you’ll enjoy the blondies! Happy baking. And for another cinnamony treat, check out these snickerdoodles without cream of tartar! These cinnamon cookies also look wonderful.
Cinnamon Walnut Blondies (whole grain, dairy-free)
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (132 grams) whole wheat flour or whole spelt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) light brown sugar or raw sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg 50 grams out of shell, room temperature
- 1 cup (110 grams) chopped walnuts
Cinnamon sugar topping:
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8″x8″ (20cmx20cm) pan with parchment paper.
- Place the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 5-8 minutes or until they smell toasty. Remove from the oven and let cool while you prepare the rest of the recipe.1 cup (110 grams) chopped walnuts
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). Set aside.1 cup + 1 tablespoon (132 grams) whole wheat flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined.6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter, 2/3 cup (133 grams) light brown sugar, 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Beat in the egg, just until combined.1 large egg
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir just until almost combined.
- Chop the walnuts (to about 1/4″ pieces). Fold the walnuts into the batter, just until combined.
- Pour into the prepared pan.
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the topping is firm and a toothpick inserted 1″ from the edges come out clean. They will still appear a bit gooey.
- Let cool for 10 minutes and then serve.
- Let cool completely and then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- I used refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have any coconut taste. If you use unrefined coconut oil in this cake, it will likely have some coconut taste to it.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.
- Use coconut oil for a dairy-free version.
Hey, this recipe looks amazing. I cannot have maple syrup though. Can I just omit that?
Hi again. :) You can’t just omit it because it adds liquid to the recipe that’s needed. Can you use honey? Any other liquid sweetener should do!
Hi Erin
Can you use coconut sugar or maple syrup in this recipe instead of raw sugar or brown sugar?
Thanks!
Kim
Hi there! Coconut sugar would work fine but not maple syrup or another type of liquid sweetener. Hope you’ll enjoy the blondies. :)
I tried coconut sugar and they were great. Thanks for the amazing recipes!
I’m so happy that they came out well! Thanks for letting me know. :)
I’m intrigued !! Has anyone tried this with plain white all purpose flour. I only ask cause I’m currently out of my whole wheat blend. TIA
I haven’t tried it but I’m pretty sure they’d work. I’d love to hear how they come out!
I’m intrigued ! Has anyone tried this with plain white all purpose flour? I only ask cause I’m out of my whole wheat blend. TIA
I haven’t tried but I’m pretty sure that’d work. :)
Made these today. They are quite tasty. However they are rather flat – literally. There is no leavening. They also come out a bit crumbly. I felt that although good, not worthy of company as they wouldn’t look very nice. My husband felt otherwise.
I’m sorry you didn’t find them to look so nice! I’ve made these with and without leavening and I personally prefer the gooey and dense texture of the leavener-free version. But mine weren’t at all crumbly. Did you make any subs to the recipe? I’m happy that your husband enjoyed them. :)
My comment on the ‘bored reader’ is that they must not be a true baker. Any true baker is interested in the ins and outs of all recipes. You tested something and it didn’t work for you. They may do the same thing and it not work for them either and if they had just read the blog, they would have known. And what are blogs for anyways!?!
Recipe sounds great to me but I am out of walnuts (not a huge walnut fan but love pecans) so I might sub pecans.
Thanks for your nice comment, Kelly! I agree with you. I actually like reading about the recipe process and what worked and didn’t work when I read other blogs! If I’m not in the mood for that, I can go to All Recipes. ;) I think these blondies would be great with pecans! I hope you’ll enjoy them if you try them. :)
I made them but I didn’t have the pecans that I thought I had so they were going to be plain and then I realized I had butterscotch chips. So I added those instead and they were AWESOME! With my first bite I thought the cinnamon was going to overpower the brownies but after second bite, I was definitely hooked! Thanks for a great blondie recipe. They are the best.
Yum! I bet these are amazing with butterscotch chips. I have some of those around so I’ll have to try that! Thanks so much for your feedback. :) I’m so happy that you enjoyed them!
Geez some people. Just scroll on down! And btw, my mouth is watering over these blondies. I seriously need a napkin over here
Haha. Here you go. And here’s some more blondies. :D
These are gorgeous…You know since my kids are both allergic to nuts…I have kind of forgotten about so many ways I can enjoy them. Now that they are getting older and can be trusted to be careful about what they eat/touch when it comes to food. I can get back to enjoying some of what I’ve been missing and I think I will start with your blondies! Mmmm!
I hope you’ll enjoy them! You could make an apple version for the kids. :)
The look so moist! and I love any dessert with a walnut crunch!
They are indeed! :D