Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Golden brown, crumbly shortbread forms the perfect foundation for a classic dessert: apple pie shortbread bars. The buttery crust, slightly nutty from the toasted flour, gives way to a sweet and tangy layer of spiced apple filling. The apples, cooked to tender perfection, release their fragrant essence of cinnamon and nutmeg, creating a familiar, comforting aroma. It’s a treat that captures the essence of a warm, homemade apple pie but with a delightful textural contrast from the shortbread.

Serving these bars warm is key, as it allows the other components to truly shine. A generous scoop of vanilla bean ice cream slowly melts on top, its creamy sweetness and floral notes providing a luxurious counterpoint to the spiced apples. The final touch, a decadent drizzle of salted caramel, weaves its way over everything, adding a deep, complex flavor. The salt cuts through the richness of the caramel and the sweetness of the ice cream, tying all the elements together in a symphony of flavors and textures—crisp, tender, creamy, and gooey all at once.

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Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Makes 16 bars

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

• 145g unsalted butter, melted

• 65g granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 240g all-purpose flour 

Apple Filling

• 4 1/2 cups (about 600g) peeled and thinly sliced (1/4 inch thick), from about 3 large apples

• 40g all-purpose flour

• 65g granulated sugar

• Zest and juice from 1/2 lemon

• 1 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

Oat Crumb Topping

• 55g old-fashioned oats

• 90g light or dark brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 70g all-purpose flour 

• 80g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

To Serve

• Salted Caramel Sauce

• Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Method

1. First, preheat your oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving some extra hanging over the sides. In a bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir in flour until it's all combined. Press this mixture evenly into your pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

2. While the crust bakes, make the apple filling. In a large bowl, toss your sliced apples with flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3. To make the crumb topping, in a separate bowl, mix the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Use a pastry blender or your hands, mix in the cold butter until it looks like coarse crumbs.

4. Take the crust out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 350°F. Spread the apple filling mixture tightly over the warm crust, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the crumb topping is golden brown.

6. Let the bars cool on the counter for at least 20 minutes, then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours (or overnight) to set. Once they are firm, lift them out of the pan. Cut then into bars and drizzle with salted caramel sauce. You can serve them warm, at room temperature, or cold.

7. Serve warm with a healthy amount of vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!

Tips

1. For a double batch, you can use a 9×13 pan. The only difference is you can bake the crust for about 18-20 minutes. And then when you have all of your apple filling and crumb topping on your baked crust, you bake the whole thing for about 45 to 55 minutes.

2. Apples: I used a mix between Gala and Honeycrisp apples. You can use a little more or less than 4 1/2 cups, depending on how much apple filling you prefer for your bars.