Caramel Apple Bars – A brown sugar oat crumble serves as both the crust and topping for these bars. Filled with cinnamon spiced apples and topped with caramel sauce, you’ll love this easy fall dessert.
Crumb-topping lovers unite! These bars are for you. And by “you” I also mean me because I just can’t get enough buttery crumbly goodness in my life. Anyone else feeling the same?
It is no secret that I love crumb toppings. I will eat every morsel of topping off an apple crisp, I always choose a crumb topped pie over a double crust, and I am always looking for the perfect vehicle (here and here) to hold a luscious crumbly topping.
Caramel Apple Bars
We found the flavors in these bars similar to an apple crisp; however, they’re heavier on the “crisp” and lighter on the apples. Prefer more fruit? Here ya go! Want all that crumbly, caramel-y deliciousness? Read on…
What we have here is a beautiful, buttery, brown sugar oat crumble that serves as both the crust (yes!) and the topping of these Caramel Apple Bars. In between those two delectable layers are thinly sliced cinnamon-spiced apples. While baking, the apples get bubbly and tender and the crumb topping gets golden and slightly crunchy. After baking, we do what all self respecting dessert lovers do and we drizzle that whole pan of bars with SALTED. CARAMEL. SAUCE. Gah!
Now comes the tough part… You have two options: Wait for the bars to cool so you get pretty, neatly sliced squares, or, exhibit little-to-no self control (ahem) and dive in while they’re still warm gooey and sticky.
Either way you are going to love every bite. Oh, and topping these babies with vanilla ice cream and a generous drizzle of caramel sauce might just be the best decision you’ll ever make.
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Caramel Apple Crumb Bars
Ingredients
Crumb crust and topping:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup good quality caramel sauce plus more for serving (see note)
Apple filling:
- 3 generous cups peeled, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples (about 2-3 apples)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x9 square baking pan.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until creamy and combined. Add flour, oats, salt and baking soda and beat until combined and crumbly, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Reserve 1 ½ cups for the topping. Press the remaining crumble mixture into the bottom of the greased 9x9 pan, pressing it into an even layer
- In a separate bowl, combine all ingredients for apple filling. Toss until well combined. Dump the apple mixture on top of the crust and spread it out evenly. Crumble the reserved topping over the apples, pressing some of it together to form clumps. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the apples are tender (insert a sharp knife to check). Place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Drizzle with ⅓ cup caramel sauce. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. Optional: top with ice cream and additional caramel sauce.
Recipe Notes
Use good quality, fairly thick caramel sauce. I used Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel sauce. Homemade salted caramel sauce would great too. If you can't find salted caramel sauce, you can use regular caramel sauce. Just lightly sprinkle the top of the bars with a little sea salt to add some balance to all the sweetness.
These would be a perfect addition to dessert buffet!
Yes, it would! Great idea! Thanks for stopping by, Cynthia!
Oh I love these Allison! Nice job. That salted caramel though!!! I just don’t know if I could wait for them to cool.
Thanks, Allie! I couldn’t wait, I ate several while they were still warm. 🙂
These look delicious!
Apple and cinnamon is the best combination EVER! And with the vanilla ice cream, that looks like HEAVEN!
Thank you, Diana!
What a gorgeous slice! loving the caramel on top
Wow, this looks phenomenal! THIS is what I need to make with all of the apples currently sitting on my counter!
Your bars are right up fall’s ally, perfect dessert food! Beautifully done, thanks.
This looks absolutely divine!!
You had me at crumb crust and topping! Yum Yum Yum!
These look very yummy!!
The caramel looks incredible and I wish I could just grab these from the screen 🙂
I recently made some strawberry oat bars, these types of bars make a perfect snack.
Oh wow, these bars look absolutely amazing!!! I’m craving them badly now, yum!! 😀
These look SO good. I love the caramel!
Love these! Can’t wait to try.
Really like this. Look so delicious!
How long do these last? If you are making ahead of time, should you wait to put the caramel sauce on top til right before serving? These look amazing! Thanks!
Hi, Shauna. Yes, I would suggest waiting to put the caramel on until you’re ready to serve (or even a couple hours before). These are best within 1 day of baking, store them in the fridge and bring to room temp (if desired) before serving. I am making them the day before Thanksgiving. Enjoy! Happy holidays!
Thank you! I will plan to do the same!
I don’t think I’m going to be able to wait until the Fall to make these;-) They look way to good! Thanks for the recipe!
They are one of my favorites! Enjoy!
Hello! I was wondering if you think taking a short cut by using pre made apple pie filling would work in these bars? I need something super quick to make and these look amazing, but I’m short on time! Thanks for the reply!
Hi! Yes, that should work. Try not to overfill it too much, as the crust on these bars is a little less sturdy than a traditional pie crust. Enjoy!
Update!! I used pre made pie filling and it turned out delicious! But I totally overfilled and they could not be cut into bars. We just scooped it out on a plate and topped with more caramel. Yummy, but definitely doesn’t fit into the “bar” category.