Apple Pie Bars — 🍎🍏🎉 A flaky, buttery crust is topped with homemade apple pie filling and an oat crumble topping in these INCREDIBLE spiced apple pie bars! Salted caramel sauce is the finishing touch because nothing beats the combination of caramel and apples! Make these EASY, no-mixer bars as written for a smaller gathering, or double it for a party!
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These apple pie bars are quick, easy, no-mixer, and impossible to eat just one! These easy apple bars are soft enough to cut with a fork if but sturdy enough to pick up with your hands.
The crust is homemade, but it doesn’t have to be chilled and is so much easier than making traditional pie dough. The apple pie filling is also made from scratch, which sounds time-consuming but really it’s just sliced apples tossed with some sugar and spices.
The crumble topping is my kryptonite in any dessert. Those bits of crispy oat crumble just stare at me from the pan, begging to be pulled off and savored one by one.
I have to serve these apple pie bars ASAP otherwise my family will get a whole pan, minus the crumble topping!
And because I can’t resist temptation when it stares me in the face, I went ahead and drizzled salted caramel sauce over the entire pan.
The combination of tender apples, warming spices, crispy crumble, and salted caramel makes these apple pie bars THE dessert you need for your upcoming Thanksgiving, Halloween, and fall gatherings!
Ingredients for Apple Pie Bars
These apple pie crumble bars have three components: the flaky crust, the spiced apple filling, and the oat crumble topping.
For the crust:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Pure vanilla extract
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
For the filling:
- Apples
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Ground nutmeg
For the topping:
- Light brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Old-fashioned oats
- Unsalted butter
- Salted caramel sauce (homemade or store-bought is fine)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Apple Pie Bars
The caramel apple pie bars take around 20 minutes to prepare, and after that your oven does all the hard work for you!
Here are the basic steps for this recipe:
- Make the crust. Add all of the crust ingredients to a large bowl and stir until combined.
- Pre-bake the crust. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of a parchment lined or foil lined 8×8-inch baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes at 300ºF.
- Make the apple pie filling. I like to do this while the crust bakes to save time. Add the filling ingredients to a large mixing bowl and toss to coat the apples in the spices and flour mixture.
- Make the crumble topping. Mix all the ingredients together with a fork until you have coarse crumbs.
- Assemble and bake. Remove the crust from the oven. Add the apple filling to the pan, then sprinkle and scatter the crumble mixture. Bake at 350ºF until golden brown.
- Let cool. The apple filling will be runny and molten hot when you take the pan from the oven. You MUST let the bars cool for 20 minutes at room temperature on a wire rack, then chill for 2 hours before slicing and serving.
- Drizzle with tablespoons of caramel sauce. The best part! Do this once the bars have cooled otherwise the caramel sauce will melt into them. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and dig in!
Recipe FAQs
You can use all of one type if preferred. More importantly than the color, is the texture. I recommend using sturdy, firm apples, such as Jonathan, Pink Lady, Fuji, Gala, or Braeburn as the red choices. And Granny Smith Apples are the logical green apple choice.
Yes, peel the apples and slice them very thin, about 1/8-inch thickness.Apple skins remain tough even when baked, and almost become more noticeable since the apple flesh softens and you’re left with this undesirable wad of skin in your mouth.
No, you need to use real apples to make these apple pie crumble bars. And there’s nothing to boil here – you’re just tossing together apples with flour, sugar, and spices!
Technically no, but it really makes these apple pie bars pop! I love drenching my apple desserts with salted caramel sauce, but do as you see fit.
Absolutely! Double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan. Note that the crust will have to bake for closer to 18 minutes before the filling can be added. You’ll likely need to increase the baking time slightly (5-ish minutes is my guess) once you add the filling and crumble topping but like all recipes, watch your item and not the time on the clock when evaluating doneness. Always bake until done in your oven given your variables like pan size and climate.
My family doesn’t tend to love nuts in desserts but if yours does, feel free to add 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or slivered almonds to the crumble topping mixture.
As written, the apple pie bars aren’t overly spiced. But they aren’t bland either because I love bold cinnamon flavor in any type of apple or pumpkin dessert. So I’ll sometimes I’ll add another teaspoon ground cinnamon, a tsp of ginger, and a pinch more nutmeg if I’m making this recipe just for my family.
No, you must use rolled oats or whole-rolled old-fashioned oats. Do NOT use instant or quick-cooking oats are too finely ground for the crumble topping and will act more like flour. Old-fashioned oats create those big chunks of crumble that I love to pick off one at a time.
Storage Instructions
In the fridge: Leftover bars will last and up to 5 days in the fridge.
At room temp: Store airtight up to 2 days. I’m comfortable storing baked fruit desserts at room temperature, but use your best judgment.
In the freezer: I imagine the pie bars would freeze just fine, but I’ve never had any left over to test that out! If you have to stack the bars to get them to fit into a freezer bag, be sure to place a square of parchment or wax paper between the layers to prevent sticking.
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Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Apple Filling
- 2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Granny Smith and Pink Lady* See Notes)
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, based on preference
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger, optional and to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, or to taste
Crumble Topping
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats, do NOT use quick cook or instant oats
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup salted caramel sauce, homemade or store bought **See Notes, for drizzling
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 300F and line the bottom of an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment. Leave the edges of the parchment over the sides for easy removal. Alternatively, you can also use a high quality, nonstick aluminum foil.
- In a medium bowl, add the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and stir to combine.
- Fold in the flour and stir until combined.
- Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the lined baking pan and bake for 15 minutes at 300F. Set a timer so you don't forget and set aside to cool if you are speedy with steps 5 and 6! Tip– Prepare the filling while the crust is baking to save time.
Apple Filling
- To a large bowl, add the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, optional ginger, nutmeg and stir to combine and coat evenly; set aside.
Crumble Topping
- To a medium bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, and butter. With a fork, gently cut the butter into the dry mixture until a crumbly texture is achieved. Tip – I find that softened butter rather than cold butter (more typical) is easier to work and yields the same result in this recipe.
Second Baking
- Turn the oven up to 350F degrees. On top of the warm crust, evenly spread the apple filling mixture with a rubber spatula.
- Evenly sprinkle the crumble topping mixture on top and bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 350F, or until the crumble is golden brown. Baking Tips– Always watch your items and not the time on the clock when determining doneness. When the top is lighlty golden browned and set, and you can see a bit of bubbling from the apple filling beneathe, they're likley done. Rotate pan once halfway through this round of baking to ensure a more evenly golden browned top.
Cooling
- Remove pan from the oven and allow bars to cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours, or overnight. If desired, after cooling at room temp for 20 minutes, you can chill in the fridge 2 hours if you like chilled desserts. Do not cover (either on the counter or in the fridge) or the top won't stay crispy/crumbly and will soften.
- When ready to serve, evenly drizzle the caramel sauce over the top as desired, slice, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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