Apple Pie Bars
Updated 1st October 2024
Nothing makes me smile wider than the scent of apple pie baking – these apple pie bars have the same delicious flavors of apple pie but in bar form with a buttery shortbread crust for the bottom, spiced sweet apple slices for the filling and a crumbly like streusel topping. Easy to make and delicious on their own but even better with a drizzle of caramel sauce and even a scoop of vanilla ice cream. They are not too sweet at all and are a buttery apple treat you will love!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Very easy to make
- Very basic ingredients to make these bars
- Make the crust and topping using same method - simplified process
- Irresistible simple buttery spiced flavors
Technically these are called apple Kutchen Bars - What is apple kuchen? Kuchen is German for cake – and there are many different apple kuchen/cake recipes out there. These Apple Kuchen Bars have all of the same wonderful flavors of the traditional cake recipes plus a good old apple pie, but with the texture of fruit bars. They are always a crowd pleaser and they can also feed a crowd too so perfect for taking to a gathering or making for a large dinner party. They are made in slab form and can be cut into small or larger pieces. They are always a hit wherever I take them. I usually keep half and share the rest with friends.
The bars are made with three delicious and simple layers. The bottom layer is very much a shortbread crust. That means buttery, flaky and fabulous. The crust pre bakes alone for the first 20 minutes of baking to allow the crust to set and provide a good base for the the next layer. The next layer or middle layer is thinly sliced apples simply tossed with some sugar, apple pie spice and vanilla. That’s all the apples need. They caramelize beautifully baked between the two buttery layers and soften up and are a delight to bite through. The top layer is almost like a shortbread crumble. It’s not super hard and crispy but soft and fluffy with some crispy peaks and crunchy bits of toasted pecan. All the layers and different textures come together to make these irresistible bars.
Want to make them even more irresistible? Drizzle some of the spiced salted pecan caramel over them for an extra layer of apple pie spice. Yes I could have my homemade caramel sauce, which is delicious with these bars, but I saw a recipe for this vegan caramel sauce that I thought would be perfect with these bars. No these bars are not vegan (I’m sure they could be using vegan butter) and I wasn’t looking for a vegan glaze or sauce for them. I just stumbled upon this one and needed to try it, and now you NEED to try it too. It’s creamy and smooth and the flavours are perfect with the apple Kuchen Bars. If you don’t feel up to make in that or any other caramel sauce feel free to use store bought caramel for drizzling.
What Are The Best Apples to Make Apple Pie Bars?
When it comes to what variety of apples to use in your apple pie bars try to stick to baking apples like Granny Smith apples, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Gala, Jonagold, Cortland, Honeycrisp, Jazz, or Fuji. The only ones I avoid are Red delicious or golden delicious apples and McIntosh apples especially as they lack crispness. I really like to do a combination for added flavour as they do each have a distinct flavour difference, small but enough. Variety is nice in pie and pie bars so feel free to mix it up with sweet and tart apples.
Apple Pie Bars Recipe Ingredients
- APPLES: I like to use a variety as stated above and for this recipe you will need approx 8 cups of sliced apples or approx 8-10 medium size apples
- FLOUR: I use all purpose flour and it is used for the short crust base and crumbly topping
- BUTTER: You will need 3 sticks of unsalted butter divided. 2 for the base short crust and 1 for the crumbly topping. Ensure your butter is chilled and cubed
- SUGAR: I use predominantly granulated sugar for the this recipe out of simplicity but feel free to use a blend of both granulated sugar and brown sugar if you wish. The texture may be slightly different as they each have different moisture levels
- SPICES: I use a blend of ground cinnamon, and apple pie spice which is a blend of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground clove. Feel free to adjust amounts to taste and if you would like to add more warming spices like cardamon or all spice you can. Instead of using Apple Pie spice you can use an extra bit of ground cinnamon and add ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger and ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- LEMON JUICE: This balances the sweet and add to the flavor of the filling
- VANILLA EXTRACT: To flavor the filling. I like to use pure vanilla extract for best flavor
- PECANS: To add a bit of texture/ crunch and flavor to the crumbly topping. You could also use walnuts if you prefer. Or omit for a nut free version
How To Make These Easy Apple Pie Bars
- Prepare Crust & Topping: Use a food processor or a bowl whisk and pastry cutter or your fingers to whisk together the flour and sugar and salt then add the cubed chilled butter and pulse or use a pastry cutter to cut butter into flour. For the base you are adding some water to create a bit of a loose pie dough that can be pressed into pan like a short crust and for the topping you are leaving the flour butter mixture loose to sprinkle over filling along with the chopped pecans.
- Bake Crust: Press the short crust dough into the pan and bake until lightly golden and fragrant then allow to cool
- Prepare Apples: This is by far the hardest part only because it takes sometime to peel core and slice your apples. That being said if you have an apple peeler and corer you are golden and that would shave loads of time off. Either way it a good excuse to get some help with this recipe if you have a few extra hands that are willing to.
- Assemble Bars: Scoop apples over crust with a slotted spoon, then sprinkle over the topping
- Bake Bars: Bake the bars until filling is starting to bubble around the edges and top is golden. Tent with foil if needed and if topping is browning too quickly
- Cool Bars: The hardest part is allowing these little guys to cool because you want your filling to set so give them at least a couple of hours to cool slice and serve.
From the top drizzle to the bottom these apple bars are full of the Fall season’s most wonderful flavours. I used Club House Apple Pie Spice and it’s a warm spice blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice is perfect for all your fall baking And desserts. These warm spices will infuse fall flavours to dishes and your home all year round.
I’m about to refill my cup of coffee and enjoy a small slice of these apple Kuchen Bars before the chaos of a working Sunday begins. Have a great day!
More Easy Bar Recipes You Will Love
- Lemon Blueberry Bars Lemon Blueberry Bars
- Nutella S’mores Bars Nutella S’mores Bars
- Creamy Pumpkin Pie Bars Creamy Pumpkin Pie Bars
- Easy Pecan Pie Bars Easy Pecan Pie Bars
- Classic Lemon Bars With Shortbread Crust Classic Easy Meyer Lemon Bars With Shortbread Crust
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-½ cups cold unsalted butter, divided (approx. 3 sticks)
- 4 to 5 tablespoons ice cold water
- 8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (about 8-10 medium size apples)
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice *
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Juice of one lemon
- ½ cup pecans
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease or line a 13x9 baking dish with parchment paper overhanging the edges for easy removal.
- Place 2 cups of the flour and salt in a food processor; pulse until blended. (If you don’t have a food processor feel free to whisk them together in a bowl)
- Slice 1 cup of chilled butter (2 sticks) into small cubes and add it to the flour mixture, pulse until butter is the size of peas. While pulsing, add ice water in 1 tablespoon at a time - just enough to form moist crumbs and a dough starts to form. (If not using food processor make the shortbread crust with a pastry cutter or two knives instead. Cut the butter into the mixture until it starts to clump and then slowly drizzle in water until a dough starts to form)
- Press mixture onto the bottom of a greased 13x9-inch. baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- While the crust is cooling prepare the apples. In a large bowl, combine apples, 1 cup of the sugar, vanilla, lemon juice if using and apple pie spice blend and toss to coat. Spoon over crust with a slotted spoon leaving behind most of the juices.
- Place remaining flour, and remaining sugar in food processor, pulse to combine then cube remaining chilled stick of butter and add to flour; pulse until coarse crumbs form and add the pecans and pulse just until rough chopped combined. (If not using processor cut butter in as above and then chop your pecans and toss them with the crumble). Sprinkle the topping mixture over apples.
- Transfer baking pan to oven and bake 60-70 minutes or until golden brown, apples are tender and bubbling. Tent loosely with foil at any point if the top starts to brown too quickly.
- Remove from oven once done and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Slice into squares and serve with a generous drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt or serve with ice cream.
Recipe Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The bars will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days. You can freeze the bars for up to 3 months. Warp with heavy foil and place in an airtight container or sealed bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerate and enjoy chilled, room temperature or reheat in the oven or microwave.
- Variations: These bars are not too sweet and not heavily spiced. I prefer the bars not too sweet and I wouldn’t change the ratio of sugar. But if you noticed the crust has no sugar added to it. If you would like you could add a small amount of the sugar to it (¼-½ cup) to sweeten it if you prefer but I like it as is just an fyi - you could even add splash of vanilla to the crust mixture as well for more flavor. If you would like a little more flavor in the crust or topping feel free to spice it up a little by adding a dash of cinnamon or apple pie spice to either of them or both.
- If you find your apples are particularly juicy feel free to add a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch to the filling. I usually don’t add any because I don’t think it really needs it but if you would like to thicken the filling up a bit or give it more structure that is up to you.
- For Spiced Salted Pecan Caramel you will need: ⅓ cup pecan butter * (store bought or homemade - alternatively use almond butter), 3 tbsp maple syrup, ½ tsp vanilla extract, A pinch of sea salt, ½ tsp of apple spice blend (I used Club House Apple Pie Spice). Place the pecan butter, maple syrup, vanilla, apple pie spice and sea salt into a small bowl and whisk. Add one or two tablespoons of warm water as needed to thin out, until you get a caramel-like texture. To make your own pecan butter, toast pecans in the oven until golden brown. Let cool and blend in a food processor for a couple minutes, until it forms a creamy butter.
Adapted from Taste of Home and The Green Life
