Apple Crumble Bars

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Apple crumble bars — melt-in-your mouth buttery shortbread crust, soft caramel apples, crispy crumble topping. These caramel apple bars are delicious, easy to make and will make your home smell like fall.

(Love cooking and baking with apples? Check out this collection of sweet and savoury apple recipes to kick off apple season.)

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Why you’ll love these caramel apple crumble bars

What you’ll need

How to make

Baking tips and recipe FAQs

Other delicious apple desserts

Apple Crumble Bars

I love making apple crumble bars. Easier to make than apple pie, just as delicious!

Apples are available year-round but nothing beats baking with them in the autumn and filling your home with all the fall feels.

Hope you enjoy these caramel apple bars, apple crisp bars, apple pie bars or whatever else you end up calling them in your family.

They are easy to make, packed with caramel apple flavour, just the thing we need to kick off fall baking.

Why you’ll love these caramel apple crumble bars

You’ll love making these easy apple squares because:

The shortbread crust is just the right amount of thickness and is melt-in-your mouth buttery
The crispy oatmeal crumble is packed with cinnamon flavour and so easy to put together
You don’t have to cook the apple filling
And they’re delightfully sweet and sticky because of the caramel

What you’ll need

They’re so easy to make too. The ingredients are simple and easy to find. You probably already have most of them sitting in your pantry.

Ingredients

All purpose flour
Unsalted butter
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Rolled oats
Ground cinnamon
Salt
Egg yolk
Vanilla extract
Caramel squares
Half and half

And apples, of course. Plus, ice cream! These bars are amazing topped with ice cream.

(Got lots of apples? Make some freeze dried apples!)

Baking tools

I use my handheld mixer to beat the shortbread crust, though you can also use a pastry cutter or two forks.

Other than that, all you’ll need are:

A 9×9 inch baking pan
Bowls
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons

A vegetable peeler will make your life easier but it’s not necessary.

I like to use my bench scraper to cut the apple bars into squares though a knife will work too.

And I always recommend investing in an oven thermometer — they are inexpensive and so useful. It’s so important to bake at the correct temperature and you might be surprised just how inaccurate your oven temperature is.

How to make

These apple crumble bars have 3 components: the shortbread crust, the vanilla caramel and the crumble topping.

First, preheat your oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 9×9 inch baking pan and set aside. I don’t line my pan with parchment paper in this recipe.

Short bread crust

To make the crust, start by combining flour, butter, sugar, salt, an egg yolk and vanilla extract in a bowl.

Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the flour mixture until it resembles a course meal.

Transfer to a 9×9 inch baking pan and press to the bottom with your hands. Make sure to pack it in and get to all the corners.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until it turns a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow cool.

Vanilla caramel sauce

While your crust is baking, melt your vanilla caramel candies in a heavy bottom pan over low heat. When they are almost completely melted, add half and half, and salt.

Stir to incorporate and remove from heat.

Apple crumble topping

Next you can turn your attention to the oat crisp, which is the easiest thing ever.

Simply mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Stir until combined and evenly moist. That’s it!

Assembly and baking

Now that you have everything ready, you just need to put everything together.

Put apples on top of your baked shortbread crust.

Drizzle with your prepared caramel sauce.

Then bake for 30-45 minutes or until the apple filling is tender and the crumble is crisp and golden brown.

Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares. Drizzle with more caramel sauce and top with ice cream if desired.

Baking tips and recipe FAQs

What is the best apple to use for this apple crumble bars recipe?

When picking the kind of apple to use for this apple pie bars recipe or for baking in general, remember that the best variety is sweet as well as tart and, more importantly, firm and crisp enough so it doesn’t turn into mush when you bake it (unless you want it to turn mushy, of course).

My default is granny smith apples, and this is what I use when making these bars.

They are crisp and bake really well. They are also more on the sour side and that provides a nice balance for desserts.

You shouldn’t limit yourself to just one apple variety though. You should experiment and see what kind of apple you like. Mix and match until you find your favourite, tastiest apple combination.

How do I store apple crisp bars?

Store leftover apple pie crumble bars in an airtight container. You can leave them on your counter or store them in the fridge.

Can I freeze these apple bars with oatmeal crumb topping?

You can also freeze them, like how you would brownies. Wrap each apple square in plastic wrap then aluminum foil and place them in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag.

To thaw, bring down to the fridge the night before.

How long do apple crumble bars last?

Stored properly, apple crumble bars should last about 3 days on your counter, up to a week in the fridge, and at least a month in the freezer.

Do I have to cook the apple filling beforehand?

You don’t have to cook the apple filling beforehand, which make this recipe so easy! All you need to do is peel and dice.

What are the best caramels to use?

I always use Kraft Classic Caramels in this apple crumb squares recipe but you can also use Werther’s Soft Caramels. Of course, you can make your own caramel sauce! I have an easy, foolproof salted caramel sauce recipe you can try.

Tips when making the vanilla caramel sauce

There are 2 things I learned when using vanilla caramel candies for making caramel sauce.

One: they harden faster.

But don’t worry. You can just zap them in the microwave for 20 seconds or so, stir and you’ll have lovely caramel sauce again.

Two: they are stickier. But that is not a bad thing at all. In fact it’s a great thing.

It worked so well with these bars that I don’t think I will sub my homemade sauce for this particular recipe.

The bars — already crispy and soft to begin with — take on another layer of texture (stickiness!) — for one amazing bite.

What to do with extra egg whites

You’ll notice that this recipe only uses 1 egg yolk. Don’t throw that egg white away! There are so many things you can do with it.

Check out this recipe collection that gives you several recipes to use leftover egg whites.

Other delicious apple desserts

Apples are available year-round but they are amazing in the fall. And there are so many apple varieties to choose from!

I love baking with apples; if you do too, check out these delicious apple desserts:

Apple Crisp Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Pecan Apple Crisp Topping — Apple Crisp Cheesecake

Rustic Apple Galette — Apple Crisp Cheesecake

This apple crisp cheesecake is sure to be the star of your thanksgiving dessert table.
For a simple, everyday apple treat, rustic apple galette fits the bill nicely. Like these bars, it’s your favourite apple pie without all the work.
And these baked apple turon is a delightfully delicious twist on the popular Filipino snack.

And if you love caramels and apples, this cream cheese caramel apple dip is just what you need.

These apple crisp bars are so easy to do. Make and bake the crust, put chopped apples on top, pour caramel sauce, top with crumble, then bake again.

Before you know it your kitchen will be smelling of caramel apples and, to borrow from Martha Stewart, that’s a good thing! Enjoy!

Happy baking!

Did you make caramel apple bars? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.