• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Bake Offs
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Nav Widget Area

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
The Pancake Princess

The Pancake Princess

A baking blog curating internet recipes.

You're here: Home > Pancake Princess

Ugly Fruit Blondies

by erika 4 Comments

JUMP TO RECIPE PRINT RECIPE

Does the following color combination appear oh-so-reminiscent of a recent holiday that may have involved fireworks, cookouts, and way too many chips consumed pool-side?

Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake Princess

That’s because these blondies were definitely made TWICE for various Fourth of July celebrations, but I’m only getting around to posting them now because…life.

Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake Princess

Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake PrincessI recently re-took various personality tests around the interwebs which revealed an interesting shift from my former middle-leaning-introverted tendencies of the Myers-Briggs scale to the extrovert-leaning side. Way back in the day, I took the real-deal test and scored INTJ, one of the rarest personality types and basically the ULTIMATE introvert profile. According to more recent (free internet) tests, I have solidly edged over to the extrovert side of the scale, which I found myself thinking “yeah, that could be right,” considering what a success story my Australia solo travel was.

But these past few weeks, man–definitely confirmed I’m still an introvert. I’ve had some kind of meeting or social engagement every single night after work and it’s exhausting. I want to curl up in my room, read the book that my roommate left in my doorway, and not speak to anyone for a week. I think that’s the definition of introversion. Though my extended period of extroversion was fun while it lasted!

So for the fourth, I riffed on Michelle’s rhubarb and white chocolate blondies with additional fruit for a red white and blue theme (the first batch with cherries, the second with pomegranates). Thhen, when gifted a few jars of Ugly Fruit applesauce, I used it in a second batch in place of some butter.

Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake Princess

Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake PrincessBack in the day, I was a big fan of using things like applesauce and yogurt as a fat-replacer in baked goods. These days, I almost never substitute for fat in baked recipes since it almost always results in less satisfying goods that leave me wishing I’d just made the real deal. The applesauce, however, worked really well in these considering how fruity the toppings are anyway, simply resulting in a slightly firmer (instead of gooey-centered) blondie that still retains that buttery-sweet, salt-flecked flavor.

Ugly Fruit, by the way, is a company that uses blemished fruit that would otherwise be thrown away due to unsalable appearances that can’t make it through the high beauty standards of grocery stores. I’ve been seeing a lot of companies pop up lately that are attacking the issue of food waste from multiple angles and I LOVE IT. I think food waste and sustainability are incredibly important issues and it’s really great to see more people finding solutions to this rather gargantuan problem.

“Ugly Fruit is creating networks of farms, chefs, processors, and communities that are committed to tackling issues of access and nutrition and creating a food system that better allocates resources and provides healthier options accessible to all.”

^ How cool is that?? So to recap, make these blondies and go buy some really delicious small batch applesauce! If you’re on the East Coast, you can find Ugly Fruit applesauce in select stores in Connecticut, New York, and soon Boston (follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter to stay updated on which stores carry it). If you’re not on the East Coast, you can buy it online and get it delivered to your door.

(Ps. I was given samples, but not compensated to write this post; I just really believe in this awesome product!)
Ugly Fruit Blondies // The Pancake Princess


PRINT PIN
4 from 1 vote

Ugly Fruit Blondies

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 1 8x8 pan, or about 25 small squares

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons Ugly Fruit applesauce or regular applesauce
  • 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • scant 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cups mixed fresh fruit blueberries, cherries, pomegranate, raspberries, etc.

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 pan. Melt butter over medium heat until browned: it will foam and sizzle, but ultimately give way to a nutty-smelling liquid.
  • Stir together the butter, applesauce, and sugars until smooth. Stir in the egg and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add the flour, cinnamon and salt and stir until mostly incorporated--a few streaks is okay. Stir in 1/4 cup white chocolate chips.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and fruit. Bake for 40 minutes, or until browned and tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Adapted from Michelle's rhubarb and white chocolate blondies: www.hummingbirdhigh.com/2014/06/rhubarb-and-white-chocolate-blondies.html

Did you try this recipe?

Tag @thepancakeprincess on Instagram!

FacebookTweetPin23

Reader Interactions

Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




  1. Courtney | fork to belly

    July 14, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    Ahhhh I love this idea! Totally checking out Ugly Fruit… I just read about a company that takes the leafy parts of veggies we don’t eat (carrot and beet stalks), turns them into a powder, and you can sprinkle it on food for an added health boost – yay the world.
    PS introverts unite!

    Reply
    • erika

      July 14, 2016 at 1:42 pm

      OMG that is so brilliant!!! I love that idea! Gonna have to look out for that…also have you seen all the insect food companies popping up?? So curious to try insect flour…

      Reply
  2. Mary Frances

    July 14, 2016 at 11:43 am

    4 stars
    This looks very interesting but i do have a question on the fruit, is it dried fruit ?
    I have a felling it is but just want to be sure, thank you very much <3
    Have a beautiful day and God bless .

    Reply
    • erika

      July 14, 2016 at 5:03 pm

      Hi Mary Frances–thanks for the question! All the fruit was actually all fresh fruit; I’ll make sure to clarify that in the recipe. The “Ugly Fruit” mentioned was in reference to the brand of applesauce I used. Thanks again and hope you like these if you try them!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

Baking recipe curator and tester.

I’m here to give you confidence that you are finding the recipe that’s right for you.

I test recipes side-by-side and use a data-driven approach to analyze and rank the “best” recipes and put it all together for you.

Get to know me.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Subscribe to get the latest

Popular Now:

Best Lofthouse Cookie Copycat Recipe // The Pancake Princess Best Lofthouse Cookie Bake Off
Best Levain Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bake Off
best lemon poppy seed muffin bake off Best Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Bake Off
Gingerbread Coffee Cake
Best Gingerbread Cookie Bake Off
Campfire Crunch Cookies
nine slices pecan pie Best Pecan Pie Bake Off
Best Parker House Roll Bake Off // The Pancake Princess Best Parker House Roll Bake Off

Instagram

The Lofthouse copycat bake off is now live on the The Lofthouse copycat bake off is now live on the blog!! I am excited to share that we found a recipe that comes very very close to the original (but is, of course, way better in my opinion!)

Link is in my profile/story and let me know which cookie you’re most excited to try! Or if you’re baking something else fun this weekend!

A huge thank you to the sponsor of this bake off, @imperial_sugar!! Their sugar products are just hands down the best—I use them in every single bake off! #sponsored #pancakeprincessbakeoff
The Levain dark chocolate pb copycat cookie bake o The Levain dark chocolate pb copycat cookie bake off is live 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 since my handwriting is getting progressively tinier and hard to see, tap the photo to see all the participating bloggers/recipes 🤗 which do you think looks the best?

This was a hard bake off to judge because pretty much all the cookies tasted like a peanut butter brownie ie. SUPER DELICIOUS 😩 thanks to the bloggers for all the work that went into developing these incredible recipes!! #pancakeprincessbakeoff #bakeoff #levain #levainbakery #levaincookies #chocolate #chocolatelab #cookies #cookiesofinstagram
Best lemon poppy seed muffin bake off is live!! Li Best lemon poppy seed muffin bake off is live!! Link in profile and tap the photo to see all the participating recipes/bloggers 🎊🎊

I always love to hear your guesses—based on looks alone, who do you think won?! 

And excitingly there is a bonus recipe at the end! I love lemon poppy so much that when a certain blogger I love (ahem @ful.filled) reached out with her intriguing looking recipe after the fact, I immediately tried it and reported my thoughts at the end of the post 💕
#pancakeprincessbakeoff #muffins #lemonpoppyseed #bakeoff
New year, new profile pic surrounded by cookies ✨

For those of you who like to plan, here’s a very tentative guide to what I’m envisioning for this year’s bake offs (if the world doesn’t blow up). Thank you, as always, for your constant enthusiasm and support for the bake offs! 💕💕💕 

🍪Jan: lemon poppy muffins, Levain choc/pb cookies?
🍪 Feb: cream cheese kolaches, loft house copycat cookies, flourless chocolate cake?
🍪 March: carrot cake
🍪 April: liege waffles??
🍪 May: tres leches
🍪 June: key lime pie 
🍪 July: tiramisu
🍪 August: oatmeal cookies
🍪 Sept: doughnuts 
🍪 Oct: shortbread?
🍪 Nov: Mac n cheese 
🍪 Dec: ginger molasses or chocolate crinkle cookies

Photo credit: @juliejulez.jpg 👹💕
{HOUSTON GIVEAWAY} Hi friends! If you’ve been f {HOUSTON GIVEAWAY}

Hi friends! If you’ve been following me for a little bit, hopefully you know how obsessed I am with @happyearthcompost and their mission to make composting more accessible and easy for the Houston community! Here is just a sneak peek of all the eggshells and lemon peels from the lemon poppy seed muffin bake off that are going straight into my Happy Earth compost bucket instead of the trash 🎊

I’m thrilled to be partnering with @happyearthcompost to do a giveaway for one lucky winner! Here are the deets:

🌱 you will win 2 free months of monthly pick ups from @happyearthcompost! You’ll get a little counter top bin (pictured here) and a larger bucket to keep outside (in the second pic)
🌱 must be located in Houston or Bryan/College Station to win
🌱 to enter, just make sure you’re following me and @happyearthcompost and tag a friend in the comments! Each comment is a separate entry
🌱 giveaway will close this Saturday (1/16) at midnight! GOOD LUCK!!!
@THEPANCAKEPRINCESS

Footer

Back to Top
Bake Offs
Recipes
Travel
About
Work With Me

Subscribe to get the latest:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Best Lofthouse Cookie Bake Off
  • Best Levain Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bake Off
  • Best Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin Bake Off
  • Gingerbread Coffee Cake
  • Best Gingerbread Cookie Bake Off

Privacy Policy and Terms of Service · © Pancake Princess · Site by Meyne