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’m sorry if I’m boring anyone by talking about what works and doesn’t work 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 kind 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 brownies 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 what you see 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 really 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 (100% whole grain, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 16 blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (132 grams) whole spelt or whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (84 grams) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted1
- 2/3 cup (133 grams) light brown sugar or raw sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 cup (110 grams) chopped walnuts
- 1 tablespoon granulated or raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cinnamon sugar topping:
Directions
- 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.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined.
- Beat in the egg, just until combined.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use coconut oil for a dairy-free version.
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62 comments on “Cinnamon Walnut Blondies (whole grain, dairy-free)” — Add one!
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
These blondies look SO so good! I love cinnamon so much and haven’t baked blondies in ages…so no excuses! Time to turn on the oven and make your cute blondies. :-)
xo
Haha. Well you do have cinnamon in your name! ;)
I always love a healthy sweet treat!
Same here! :D
I am in love with blondies! These look perfect for fall!
I totally agree!
LOL, I had to giggle. Some people want the recipe, the whole recipe, nothing but the recipe! Hey, that’s what the scroll bar is for. ;) These look absolutely amazing. I do love a good brownie, but I can see how these would be the “favorite sister”.
Haha. Thanks, Heather! That’s what gets me. People just have to scroll! Such an easy thing to do. :)
You are on a roll with gorgeous autumnal desserts. I’m trying to imagine the taste of cinnamon walnut blondies and already starting salivate.
Thanks, Dara! I’m definitely feeling all things apple, cinnamon, maple and nut butters. :D
One of my favorite things about your blog, besides that the recipes turn out delicious, is your commentary! People say dumb things sometimes so I hope you stay the same and keep making yummy recipes with good commentary :)
What a nice thing to say! Thank you so much. :) I will definitely keep writing about the recipes in my posts. I wouldn’t know what else to write about. ;) I know I always like to read tips about what works and what doesn’t when I read blog posts, so I’ll continue doing that. Thanks again for your nice comment!
I really like the flavors in these blondies! Of course, I like chocolate brownies, but at this time of year nothing beats a good cinnamon-y blondie. Yum!
Thanks! I suppose you’re right and I shouldn’t feel too bad for the brownies. ;)
WHOA! You have outdone yourself! How could you possibly be boring?? I love all of these ingredients!
Thanks! And haha. By talking about the recipe, I guess? :D
These are whole-grain AND dairy-free?! Girl, you know the way to my heart. Pinning!
Thanks so much for pinning! :)
Cinnamon and walnut sounds really amazing! And I love that its dairy-free! Perfect!
Thanks, Andi!
You are never boring! I had to stop reading immediately and make this comment! Your blog is one of the best baking blogs on the internet!
Wow, thanks. :) That’s awfully nice of you to say! You totally made my day. :)
YUM!!!! Another good recipe without chocolate. I need to look at the GF recipe for some family members.
I love all the info you give. If someone gets bored… move on. No one is making them stay the course. Geez!!
Haha. You’re the best, Charlotte! :) Thanks so much!
Cinnamon and walnut! Yummy! These blondies both look and sound delicious!
Thanks, Medeja! :)
That comment cracks me up…some people just have really short attention spans, I guess! lol. These blondies look amazing! Especially with the cinnamon sugar topping :)
Thanks! And yeah – people are just weird. It’s so easy to just scroll past text! It took her a whole lot longer to write that comment. ;)
What a great fall dessert – love the addition of walnuts!
Thanks, Deb!
I so want to try these! Love the cinnamon and walnut combo! Crazy good!
I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
Are you kidding? I LOVE your informative posts. Your attention to detail is what makes your recipes great and keeps me coming back for more. I’m glad you can see the absolute lunacy of that comment.
And I can see why these blondies would have put the brownies to shame! I’ll usually always pick chocolate but I’d go for these first. Something about the chunky nuts and glistening grains of sugar. They’re irresistible!
Aww, thanks! I’m so happy that you don’t find those posts boring. I wish I had a super exciting and interesting life to write about but since I pretty much just bake all day, it’s what I’ve got to write about. ;)
Some readers can be so funny about stuff. These blondies sound divine!
Thanks! And right?! How hard is it to scroll down to the recipe? I don’t get people sometimes.
These look soooooo good!! And I LOVE spelt flour!
Same here! Such a great alternative to wheat.
Such a yummy autumn treat! Can’t wait to try! :)
I hope you’ll enjoy it! :)