Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
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If there is one food that screams fall it’s Apple Pie.ย ย There is nothing quite like a warm apple pie served with a scoop of ice cream to make me wish for fall.ย While I love making and eating apple pie, sometimes I don’t want to make an entire pie for my husband and I.
That’s where these Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars come in.ย ย Not only do they sound awesome, they are so scrumptious.ย I wanted to make something smaller and portable because I made these just 3 days before my due date.ย I knew that if we had to go to the hospital suddenly I could pack these bars up and take them with us where there is no way I could pack up a pie to go.
Plus, these bars are pretty easy to make and the recipe only makes an 8 x 8 pan of them so there isn’t way too much for us to eat.ย ย The base of these bars is a delicious shortbread cookie layer.ย ย On top of that goes layers of apples and then a crumble topping.
Once the bars are baked they need to cool.ย They smelled so good when they were in the oven.ย It smelled just like a fresh apple pie.ย ย I could barely keep my hands off the bars when they came out of the oven and actually decided to go to the store so that I wouldn’t touch them.
When I was ready to serve the bars I cut them up and then drizzled them with caramel sauce.ย Then I sprinkled them with a little sea salt.ย ย It tasted like apple pie drizzled with caramel.ย They were delicious, easy to eat on the go (without the caramel sauce), and would be great for taking to a cookout or a party.
Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1/2 c. butter softened
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 c. flour
For the filling:
- 2 apples peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the topping:
- 1/2 c. oats
- 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 1/4 c. flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 c. butter softened
- 2 teaspoon sea salt divided
- 1/4 c. caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with foil and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Mix until it forms a dough.
- Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl toss the apples with the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
- Layer the apple slices on top of the baked shortbread crust.
- In a small bowl combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix until a crumble forms. Sprinkle over top of the apples.
- Place the bars back into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- When ready to serve use the foil to help remove the bars from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into 12 bars.
- Serve with a drizzle of caramel and a sprinkle of sea salt. Store remaining bars without the caramel sauce in an air tight container for 3-4 days.