Salted Caramel Apple Bars
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A butter shortbread crust with a generous layer of fresh apples and spices, caramel sauce, and then topped with a crumbly oat streusel and . I’ll show you how to make these caramel apple bars in just one bowl, making for an easy Fall dessert everyone is going to love.
I don’t know where you live, but it is Fall all around. Normally, if I got to go home to upstate New York I would go home and go to the local cider mill and enjoy piping apple cider doughnuts. Because that is just isn’t in the cards this Autumn, I figured that doesn’t mean I can’t have my kitchen in abundance of apple recipes right? Like Apple Cranberry Crisp or my Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers, and these caramel apple bars.
The first thing I wanted to make when I got a big bag of local apples at the store were apple crisp bars.
But wait. Not just apple bars. Apple crisp bars. No wait. Let’s add salted caramel. Now we are talking people. Caramel makes everything better. Don’t you agree?
Why You Will Love These Caramel Apple Bars
- One Bowl – There are three components to this recipe – a shortbread crust, apple filling, and a streusel topping. But you can easily use just one mixing bowl and wipe it out as you move from one component to the next. Hooray for less dishes!
- Easier Than Pie – I love a homemade apple pie, but these apple bars are everything I love about pie with a lot less effort!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown sugar works.
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Apples – I used Honeycrisp, but I also like to use a combination of apples as well. Granny Smith and Cortland are two of my favorites I love combining for a sweet/tart combination. Pink Lady is another great option.
- Caramel sauce – You can make your own caramel sauce, a quick caramel sauce like I did for these caramelitas, or just simply use some jarred caramel sauce. If using a store-bought sauce, make sure it’s a quality, thick sauce.
- Oats – I prefer old-fashioned oats for a heartier texture, but quick oats also work.
How To Make These Apple Bars
If you are using homemade caramel sauce, you will want to make that first. You could also make a cheat caramel sauce using caramel candies and heavy cream like I do with these Caramelitas. Or just use some really good store-bought caramel sauce! I have used jarred sauce with these bars, (Mrs. Richardson’s caramel sauce), and they turn out wonderfully and are super easy to make if you do it this way.
Make the shortbread crust. This crust is simple and buttery. Just a simple four ingredients! Butter, sugar, flour and little bit of salt. What makes this even better is it uses melted butter, so the crust comes together super fast.
You just need to simply stir together the sugar, flour and salt in a bowl. Then stir in the melted butter until it comes together to a crumbly mixture.
Do Not Overmix
The key to anything made with flour is to not overmix. I always try to leave a streak of flour or two in the bowl to ensure I haven’t overmixed.
Then press the mixture into a rectangular 9×13 pan and bake for 20 minutes. I like to line my pan with foil or parchment paper so I can easily lift them out after and cut into squares. I give it a quick spray after and there’s not sticking!
Make the apple filling. While the crust is baking, go ahead and make the apple filling. You want to peel and cut your apples into abou 1/2″ diced pieces. For quick work of this pesky task I love my apple peeler!
To make this a one bowl recipe, just simply give your mixing bowl you made the crust in a quick wipe and you’re good to go.
Dice your apples and toss with flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the apple mixture over the par-baked crust. Then drizzle your caramel sauce over.
What Type Of Apples Are Best For Baking?
I used Honeycrisp for these. I think they are the ideal baking apple. They soften slightly but don’t become too mushy and have great apple flavor, sweet but slightly tart. I also love using a combination of Granny smith and Cortland apples for a perfect balance of sweet, tart, crisp and soft. If you can’t find those here are a few more great apples for baking:
- Jonagold
- Braeburn
- Golden Delicious
- Northern Spy
- Pink Lady
Make the streusel. Once the apple filling is made, then give that same bowl a wipe and make your streusel. Prepare the streusel by mixing together brown sugar, flour and oats. And cut in the softened butter. You can use a pastry cutter, two knives and use a criss-cross motion, or just squish with your fingertips. You want a crumbly mixture to form.
Then go ahead and crumble the mixture over the apples and caramel. The bars will then return to the oven for another 30 minutes until the top is lightly golden brown.
Heather’s Beginner Baking Tips
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly by scooping and leveling. You can get a full tutorial on how to do that here.
- You need to use softened butter for the streusel. If you need to soften your butter quickly, check that out here.
- Line your pan with tinfoil or parchment paper so they are easy to remove from the pan.
Recipe FAQ’s
You can store overnight at room temperature, but for longer storage, store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can serve these room temperature or warm.
These bars will freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to cool completely, and then place into an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
I prefer to peel them, and prefer the texture of the bars with peeled apples but if you want to save time you can skip peeling the apples.
Time Saving Tips
- Soften Your Butter Quickly – For the streusel, you need to use softened butter. I like to use my microwave, and microwave at 20% power for 30 seconds, and if necessary flip over and repeat.
- Use jarred caramel sauce – To make these fast and easy, buy some good caramel sauce and save yourself a ton of time!
- Use an apple peeler for fast work – Peeling apples can a bit of a time-consuming task. But one of these apple peelers can get the job done much faster (and let’s face it, they are fun to use!)
More Recipes to Try
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Salted Caramel Apple Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 14 Tablespoons (198 g) unsalted butter melted
For the Apple filling
- 3 cups apples (about 3-4 medium apples) peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
- 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons (45 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce
For the streusel
- 1/2 cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (60 g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (57g , 4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup (22 g) old fashioned or quick cooking oats
Instructions
Shortbread crust
- Preheat oven to 350oF (177°C). Prepare a 9×13" rectangular pan with foil or parchment paper, being sure to leave the edges hanging over for easy removal. Give the pan a spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. Stir in the the melted butter until a crumbly dough forms.
- Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven.
Apple filling
- Give the mixing bowl a wipe to re-use.
- In the same large mixing bowl you used for the crust, stir together the apples flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
- Spread the apples over the par-baked crust. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Give the mixing bowl a wipe to re-use for the streusel topping.
Streusel Topping
- In a large mixing bowl, with a wooden spoon or spatula, stir together the brown sugar, oats, flour and cut in the softened butter until a crumbly mixture forms. You can use a pastry cutter to do this, two knives, or just squish the butter your fingertips.
- Crumble the streusel topping over the apples and caramel sauce.
- Bake for an additional 30 minutes at 350oF/177oC until streusel topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven to cool completely in the pan. Lift the foil or paper out of the pan and cut into squares.
Video
Notes
- Store overnight covered at room temperature: For longer storage, store in the fridge covered for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Once cooled you can freeze any leftover bars for up to 3 months. Freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
- Apples – I used Honeycrisp, but I also like to use a combination of apples as well. Granny Smith and Cortland are two of my favorites I love combining for a sweet/tart combination. Pink Lady is another great option.
- Caramel sauce – You can make your own caramel sauce, a quick caramel sauce like I did for these caramelitas, or just simply use some jarred caramel sauce. If using a store-bought sauce, make sure it’s a quality, thick sauce.
- Oats – I prefer old-fashioned oats for a heartier texture, but quick oats also work.
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly by scooping and leveling. You can get a full tutorial on how to do that here.
- You need to use softened butter for the streusel. If you need to soften your butter quickly, check that out here.
- Line your pan with tinfoil so they are easy to remove from the pan.
Very easy and good. I will cut cinnamon down to 1&1/2 teaspoons next time. Thank you for the recipe!
glad you loved the recipe Jill!
I’m one of those annoying “Halloween starts in July!” people so of course, I had to find some fall recipes to make in August. This checked all of my boxes: salted caramel, apple, dessert! So yummy. Hit the spot and will definitely make it again this year.
Oh my deliciousness! Salted caramel, apples and shortbread all in one bite. Count me in!
Oh yum! You had me at one bowl. These bars look incredible with that caramel sauce drizzled over the top.
These bars are soooo good! Can’t wait to make them for Thanksgiving dessert this year!
thank you Holley!!
These were amazing! The whole family loved them! I will be making them again.
a sequel!!amazing
This recipe looks super tasty and I appreciate the helpful tips you provided as well. Thanks!
thanks Moop!!
I love anything with streusel and salted caramel. Can’t wait to try these delicious-looking bars. I might have to hide them from my kids. lol.
can’t wait to hear how everyone loves them!
These salted caramel apple crumb bars are so yummy. They are the perfect fall treat and that caramel topping is so good on it.
great to hear, Sharon!
These look gorgeous! I love making pies for the holidays but this year I wanted to try something different and these are perfect. Cannot wait to try!
Let me know how they turn out for you!
Salted caramel is my favourite thing ever, so these bars are perfect for me! Thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
thank you for the.rave review
These apple bars were delicious and they disappeared fast! I’ll be making these again!
great news!
What a wonderful recipe! The apple bars look delicious and healthy. Salted caramel is my favorite. I will definitely make these, we need these in our lives!
thanks Jenny – they are a necessity !!
These bars look irresistible, and love the addition of salt to the caramel sauce. perfect!
I promise they are as delicious as they look!
SO yummy and perfect for autumn!! Love the caramel drizzle on top!! 🙂