Made with a shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, streusel topping, and homemade salted caramel, apple pie bars are just as delicious as apple pie, but much simpler to make. You’ll love this fun twist on a classic dessert!
Without a doubt, apple pie is my favorite dessert. I love the combination of sweet and tart spiced apples with the buttery, flaky pie crust. It’s cozy, comforting, and simply irresistible. I have the recipe memorized and make it year-round, not just at Thanksgiving. Today’s recipe is the bar version of my salted caramel apple pie (the first apple pie recipe I ever shared on my website!). While I love the pie making process, sometimes we don’t have hours to prepare a dessert, which is where apple pie BARS come in. No traditional pie crust, but same delicious flavors.
It’s why I’ve created bar versions of some of the most popular pies on my site, such as pumpkin pie bars, cherry pie bars, and blueberry pie bars.
3 Layers to Love
- Shortbread Crust: The buttery shortbread crust is just like my favorite pie crust recipe, only easier. It’s simply perfect as the base layer for all your favorite bar desserts. I actually use the same shortbread crust in my recipe for raspberry streusel bars and double the recipe for my lemon bars. It comes together quickly—no waiting for pie dough to chill.
- Apple Pie Filling: No canned filling here. You only need 5 ingredients to make your own apple pie filling and it tastes incredible!
- Streusel Topping: Instead of a top layer of pie crust like you see on traditional apple pies, we’re topping these apple pie bars with streusel. It’s a scaled up version of the topping on our caramel apple cheesecake pie. Lots of streusel because the more streusel the better. 🙂
Best Apples for Apple Pie Bars
Whenever I make apple pie bars, apple pie, or even apple cake, I always use 2 different kinds of apples for more depth of flavor. (One sweet variety, one tart variety.)
Here are some I suggest:
- Sweet apples I love: Jazz, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, and Cortland
- Tart apples I love: Granny Smith, Braeburn, Jonathan, and Pacific Rose
For a detailed list of my favorite apple varieties and when to use each, you can visit my post The Best Apples for Baking.
Overview: How to Make Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Homemade apple pie bars are incredibly simple to make. There’s just a few steps before you have a delicious fall dessert on your hands!
- Make the shortbread crust. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8×8 inch pan.
- Bake the shortbread crust for 15 minutes.
- Make the apple pie filling.
- Make the streusel topping. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
- Layer the apple pie filling evenly on top of the crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit.
- Sprinkle on the streusel topping.
- Bake. These bars take about 30-35 minutes, or until the streusel is golden brown.
- Chill the bars. Allow them to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight).
- Cut into bars and drizzle with salted caramel.
Salted Caramel Topping
A generous drizzle of salted caramel takes these incredible apple pie bars to a whole new level. Have you ever made salted caramel before? You must. My recipe for homemade salted caramel is liquid gold and dangerously good. Besides these apple pie bars, it’s delicious on ice cream, pancakes, with apple slices, and more—find 50 ways to eat salted caramel here.
Be warned: Once you start, you won’t be able to stop. I make a batch of salted caramel almost every week and see no problem with this!
One bite of these sweet and salty apple pie bars and you’ll wonder why you haven’t made them sooner!
More Apple Desserts
- Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
- Apple Bundt Cake
- Caramel Apples
- Apple Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
- Brown Butter Apple Blondies
- Apple Turnovers
- Apple Pie
And honeycrisp apple sangria for a fun fall drink!
Print
Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Baking apple pie as bars is so much easier!
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Apple Filling
- 2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced (1/4 inch thick)*
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Streusel
- 1/2 cup (43g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1/3 cup (70g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- homemade salted caramel or store-bought caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- Make the crust: Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. (As the crust bakes, you can prepare the filling and streusel.)
- Make the apple filling: Combine the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until all of the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.
- Make the streusel: Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (or even with your hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
- Turn the oven up to 350°F (177°C). Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit. Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. I usually cut them into 16 smaller bars, but you can cut them into 12 larger bars. Once cut, drizzle some salted caramel sauce on top of each. These apple pie bars can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature, or even cold.
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. Then, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving and drizzling with caramel.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Pastry Blender
- Apples: I like to use two different kinds of apples for a more complex flavor. I typically use 1 tart apple variety such as Granny Smith, and 1 sweeter apple variety such as Pink Lady. You’ll end up with about 3-4 cups. A little more or less is OK, based on your preference of filling.
- Larger Batch: Recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. Pre-bake the crust for 18 minutes, then extend the bake time in step 5 to about 45-55 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Wow, Sally!!! Another winner! I already had a jar of the salted caramel sauce in the fridge, so this was easy to whip up. YUM!!!! I did the double batch and it turned out great. The only thing I did a little different was to drizzle the caramel sauce on before I cut the bars. I also didn’t line the pan because I was in a hurry and just buttered it. They came out very easily. Thank you again for another keeper!
Pam
I made these for our monthly birthday celebrations for work (co-worker wanted something with apples and caramel). They were a huge hit! Fairly easy to make and so was the to-die-for caramel sauce. Thank you!
I absolutely love these apple pie bars with caramel sauce. And so does my husband!
This will be the 3rd time I am making them and bringing them to a 4th of July party!
hi can i use apple filling instead of real apoles. i have a lots of filling available. thank you!
Hi Rhea! You can certainly try. I suggest leaving out the flour, sugar, and spices in the homemade filling too. Just use your filling. (Assuming it is sweetened and has spices!)
Hi Sally, is there a reduced sugar recipe for this? My friends are pretty health conscious about desserts sold commercially which are too sweet for them and hence I thought a homemade version would be less sweet, more organic. Please advise if reduced sugar version will still be as great as this current recipe. Thanks!
You can certainly try to reduce the sugar – just keep in mind that sugar is not just for taste, it’s also for the proper structure and texture of the crust. If you are going to try it I suggest reducing in the filling and a bit in the streusel. Let me know if you try it!
We are making this for my husbands birthday! Thank you for this delicous recipie. We had all the ingredients and it was very convenient. My daughter really loves your books and makes all the recipies. The strusel was supposed to be crumbly before baking, but ours was firm and moldable. That’s fine though, it turned out great. We will defiently remake this dessert again, 10/10 reccomend 🙂
I doubled the recipe and made these in a 9 x 13 pan and they were delicious. I baked the base for about 20 minutes as it was still very pale after 15 minutes, used six apples and spread some Dulce de Leche on top of the base before putting the apples on. This meant I skipped the salted caramel as I thought it would be too sweet otherwise. Received lots of compliments and lots of people asked for second helpings. Thank you for another great recipe!
Hey, Sally! I just made these today. Wow! I really love the short bread. It’s the first time I have ever made a caramel sauce. You made it easy for me! My apples were old so I used applesauce instead, probably around half a cup, just enough to cover the short bread. I think they turned out great! I enjoyed this more than a pie. Thanks so much for sharing!
You say they can be served warm, but it says to cool in the refrigerator for 2 hours. How do you serve warm? Are they good served cold out of the fridge?
Hi Shannon! You can reheat the slices in the oven or microwave if desired. They’re wonderful cold from the fridge, too!
Hi! Is 3-4 cups sliced apples the amount for the 8×8 size? Thank you!!!
Yep!
Would this survive a day of travel unrefrigerated? Maybe about 8 hours?
Yes, absolutely. They’ll be fine.
I want to double this and bake in a 9 1/4×11 3/4 pan – would that be big enough?
Hi Tess! That size pan wouldn’t be large enough– you’d need at least a 9×13 inch baking pan for doubling the apple pie bar recipe.
Have you tried using pie crust as the base?
Sure have! Works wonderfully. Let me know if you try it.
Hi.
Could this be doubled and baked as a pie? I love the taste and ease of this crust, and my 11 year old really wants to make the pie on her own. Has anyone tried? Thank you and happy Thanksgiving.
Hi Sandra! You can press this crust into a 9-inch pie dish. No need to double the crust or filling recipe. Careful slicing; the pie slices will be a little fragile.
Thank you so much for the quick reply! I assume that I still refrigerate it just as I do for the bars? These are one of my favorite recipes of yours. They are always delicious and easy for children to make on their own.
Yes, refrigerate it so the “pie” sets. So glad you love the recipe too!
These are perfect! The shortbread crust works really well here. All the goodness of apple pie, without the hassle! Aside from adding a little lime juice in the apples, and baking mine for longer (I think it’s my oven – it just wasn’t browning the way it should), I followed the recipe for the bars to a T, and it is absolutely delicious! So good in fact, that I was forbidden from letting any leave the house …lol. My poor co-workers will just have to wait for the next batch! Which, I already made a promise to myself to double the batch whenever making these 🙂
For the salted caramel, you can make it vegan if you like. I ended up using Sally’s recipe for the base, except my grocery store ran out of whipping cream, so I had to improvise. I melted a half a cup of white sugar, added a spoon of butter (coconut oil, if vegan), then the can of coconut milk, but because this has a higher water content, I had to cook it for about 25 minutes instead. But it is totally worth it!
Thanks for two more great recipes, Sally!
I made a few batches of these for a bake sale at school today. They were a hit! So delicious, and sold out very quickly. We raised a lot of money for transgender rights! Thank you!
Can you use steel cut oats?
Yes, definitely!
These where way to sweet. I have a sweet tooth but we could not eat them because they where so sweet. The salted caramel sauce was the bomb I could eat that right out of the jar. Will not make these again but have big plans for the sauce. Sorry. Smelt good looked good just to sweet.
Hi Emma! These apple pie bars are so moist– they wouldn’t dry out with a little reheating. Keep them in the baking pan and reheat at 300F for about 10 minutes.
Hi Stacey! I haven’t made the apple pie bars with vegan butter, but you can certainly try!
Hi Julie, I haven’t tested the recipe this way but you can try simply using an all purpose GF flour and certified gluten free oats.