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Apple Pie Bars

These apple pie bars have a crunchy shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, and a crumbly oat topping that will make anyone come back for seconds!

Apple Pie Bars cut and served on parchment paper.

Nothing says autumn quite like a sweet dessert full of cozy oats and spiced apples.

These apple pie bars take everything you love about apple pie–the sweet apples, warm cinnamon, brown sugar–and puts it into a bar with a crunchy oat topping. No messing with fussy crusts here!

Since they set up in the fridge overnight, it’s a great no-fuss, make-ahead dessert for any get-together.

Trust me, these apple pie bars may become your new apple dessert!

Ingredients to make Apple Pie Bars.

Ingredients for apple pie bars

Crust ingredients:

  • All-purpose flour – A simple baking ingredient that helps hold your crust together.
  • Unsalted butter – The fat of choice for our crust, to make it moist and flaky.
  • Powdered sugar – A finely milled white sugar that will dissolve easily.

Apple filling ingredients:

  • All-purpose flour – This will help thicken the filling.
  • Sliced apples – The star of the show! Try to slice them as uniformly as possible so they will cook evenly.
  • White sugar – White sugar will give our filling some sweetness.
  • Apple pie spice – Apple pie spice can be found in the spice aisle of your local grocery store, or online.

Streusel ingredients:

  • All-purpose flour and old-fashioned oats – These two will create the crunchy crumbles of our streusel.
  • Brown and white sugars – The brown sugar will add a deep molasses flavor, while the white sugar will add sweetness.
  • Cinnamon – Cinnamon is a classic spice that is often paired with apples.
  • Unsalted butter – This fat will help our streusel topping form clumps and crunchy crumbles.
Apple Pie Bars cut and served on a table.

Apple varieties

In your local grocery store, there’s usually a huge variety of apples to choose from!

So how do you know which ones will be best for these apple pie bars?

My favorite type of apple to use for this recipe is granny smith, pink lady, or Honeycrisp because they are crispy, crunchy, sweet, and tangy. 

They also hold their shape and don’t dissolve when cooked down.

I would stay away from McIntosh, gala, fuji, or red delicious. These are often mealy apples, and not very good to use in this application.

Making your own apple pie spice 

Apple pie spice blends can vary by brand, but it’s oh-so-easy to make your own!

My favorite combination is equal parts cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. 

But feel free to throw in some ginger, or cardamom too!

Stacked Apple Pie Bars.

Storage and leftovers

Leftover apple pie bars can be put into an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Apple Pie Bars served room temperature.

More apple recipes

Apple Pie Bars

Author: Brandy O’Neill – Nutmeg Nanny
These apple pie bars have a crunchy shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, and a crumbly oat topping that will make anyone come back for seconds!
4.80 from 5 votes
Print Pin
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 8 x8 pan

Ingredients

For crust:

For apple filling:

For streusel topping:

Instructions

For crust:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper, set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer add flour, butter, and powdered sugar.
  • Mix on medium speed until everything has combined and forms a soft dough. The mixture may look very crumbly at first but will form together as a dough.
  • Evenly press the dough into the prepared pan.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges just start to brown.
  • While the crust is baking start the filling.

For filling:

  • In a medium-sized mixing bowl add sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, and apple pie spice.
  • Toss to combine.
  • Add the sliced apples overtop the crust.

For topping:

  • In a medium-sized mixing bowl add all the streusel ingredients and mix until combined and crumbly.
  • Evenly sprinkle the streusel overtop the apples.
  • Add to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the streusel topping is golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  • Once cool, cover and add to the fridge for at least 2 hours but overnight is best.
  • Cut into squares and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 525kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 45mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 40g
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword apple bars, apple desserts, apple pie bars, baked fruit bars, easy apple pie bars, pie bars, streusel apple pie bars
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Apple Pie Bars pin for Pinterest.
Brandy

About Brandy!

I am a food lover and recipe developer bringing you delicious recipes that taste great and are easy to make! My food is inspired by travels around the world and my love of flavorful food. A list of things that make me happy: cats, Coke Zero, houseplants, and travel. Read more...

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