Apple Pie Crumb Bars
Apple pie crumb bars. That's right. Apple pie and crumb bars have made a baby. There's some short bread, apple pie filling and crumb topping. These are all really great things to have in a bar recipe. This is a recipe you should probably make for your family very, very soon. Apples are in season. Bars are in season.
I just realized the other week that my child actually eats apples with the skins on. I walked into preschool to see him scarfing down a bowl of unpeeled apples. Sir, you have been caught. The secret is out. At home, he's all like, "I need my apples peeled." No. No you don't, you little fibber.
Just before the local farmer's market closed, I bought a big basket of apples and I'm still trying to work through them. Now that Lucian goes to school, two of his meals are out of the way and makes it a little bit slower to get rid of them. I'm thinking that I also want to try a slow cooker apple cobbler for the blog. Who would be into a recipe like that? Please do let me know in the comments.
Apple Pie Crumb Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- ยฝ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Apple Pie Filling
- ยฝ cup all-purpose flour
- ยพ cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 large apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumb Topping
- ยฝ cup butter cold
- 1 ยฝ cups brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 1 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with a piece of parchment paper. Let the parchment paper drape over two sides of the pan. This will help you pull the bars out of the pan after they're cooled.
Shortbread
- In a mixing bowl, add in the butter and sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. It will take a minute or two.
- Add in the vanilla and flour and mix on medium until combined and forms a dough ball.
- Press the shortbread into the bottom of the prepared pan. Make sure it's evenly spread out and touches all edges.
Apple Pie Filling
- In a large bowl, add in the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Whisk to incorporate.
- Add in the sliced apples and vanilla. Stir until the flour and sugar mixture covers every apple.
- Layer the apples on the shortbread so they're neatly packed into the bars.
Crumb Topping
- In a mixing bowl, add in the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and flour. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour until crumbs form.
- Sprinkle the crumbs on top of the apple pie mixture trying to cover most of the apple pie filling.
- Place into the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown.
- Let the bars cool completely. I chilled mine in the fridge overnight to get the perfect square cuts.
- Cut and serve. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an extra delicious bite.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
Okay folks, I need to cut it short. I've been feeling pretty darn sick all day today (Sunday) while trying to put this post together for tomorrow. I am going to go lay down and relax for the remaining night.