Apple Pie Bars
Apple Pie Bars are the best way to eat pie with your hands! There is a crazy amount of buttery crumble in this recipe, that we divide between the bottom and top of the BEST apple pie filling. I consider Apple Pie to be a specialty of mine. The bar version is just amazing! Perfect for serving a crowd. Apple season is upon us my friends! It's glorious!
Servings: 20 Servings
Calories: 405kcal
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 pound butter* 4 sticks, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt use 1 teaspoon if all you have is table salt
To add to the shortbread topping:
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (toasted!!)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom optional
For the apple filling
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice fresh
- 3 pounds apples about 8 large apples**
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Start by toasting your walnuts. Add 1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans) to a dry baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes, then stir. Bake another 2 minutes and stir. Continue baking in 1 minute increments until the nuts are browned and toasty, stirring every time. Take them out and let cool, then chop them roughly.
- Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. (This is optional. It makes it really easy to lift the bars out of the pan and slice them.)
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat 1 pound of butter (4 sticks) until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat again until creamy, at least 1 minute.
- Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes, remembering to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. It should be light and creamy.
- Add 4 cups of flour. Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
- Add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt. Beat until just combined. Do not over mix!
- Add 2/3 of the dough to the lined pan. (Leave the remaining 1/3 of the dough in the bowl; we're not done with it yet!)
- Flour your hands lightly and evenly press the dough into the bottom of the pan.
- Refrigerate the uncooked crust for 20 minutes. Don't skip this step! Cold shortbread going into a hot oven is what makes for amazing, tender shortbread crust.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- Bake the crust for 15-18 minutes, until the the top is golden brown. Set aside.
- Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, add the (completely cooled) chopped toasted walnuts (or pecans) to the remaining dough in the mixing bowl. Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom.
- Mix on low speed just until combined. Cover the bowl and stick it in the fridge.
- For the apple filling: Use a microplane grater to zest 1/4 teaspoon lemon peel into a 12 inch high sided skillet.
- Add 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice to the skillet.
- Use a potato peeler or this handy apple peeler to peel 3 pounds of apples (about 8 large apples). Slice*** the apples into 1/8 inch pieces. The thinner you slice them, the better! Stir the apples in the pan occasionally to coat everything with lemon juice.
- Once you have all the apples peeled and sliced in the pan, set it over medium heat on the stove.
- Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, a pinch of kosher salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom. Stir it together gently so you don’t break all the apples.
- Once the mixture is all moistened and you don't see patches of flour or cinnamon, set a timer for 20 minutes. Cover the mixture with a lid but don't walk away. Stick around and stir the mixture every 3 minutes or so, replacing the lid each time. Cook for 20 minutes, until the apples are fork tender but still hold their shape. The apples will not soften more while baking in the oven. So have a taste and see if you want to cook a longer or shorter time. Only you can know your apple al dente perfection level!
- If your apples start to stick to the pan, add 1 tablespoon water as needed; use sparingly.
- Remove the pan from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- Let the apple mixture cool in the pan for at least 10-20 minutes.
- Pour the apples and all the liquid into the baked crust.
- Get the remaining dough out of the fridge. Use your fingers to pinch medium pieces of dough and drop them over the apples (see photos).
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until the top is evenly golden brown across the top. The apple filling should be bubbling on the edges.
- Cool completely (!!!) and cut into bars with a sharp knife. OR don't cool, cut out a falling-apart-piece right away, and top it with vanilla ice cream and Salted Caramel Sauce. You really can't go wrong here!
Notes
*BUTTER: I always use salted butter from Costco! Feel free to use unsalted butter if you are worried about it being overly salty!
**APPLES: use a variety of types, like Fuji, Granny Smith, and Honeycrisp!
***SLICING APPLES: Check out the photos to see my method for slicing apples. I like to peel and slice one apple at a time so that they don't get brown; I peel one apple, then stop and slice it, add it to the lemon juice, and then move on to peeling the next apple.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bar | Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Potassium: 138mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 605IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 1mg
