Apple Crumble Bars

Learn how to make the most delicious fall dessert – apple crumble bars! These bars are easy to throw together and perfect for when you’ve gone apple picking!

Easy fall desserts, I am all about that.

These apple crumble bars have been on repeat at our house! No, I didn’t go apple picking because that’s not really a thing we do in Texas. I went to my favorite grocery store that just so happens to be running a special on barrels and barrels of apples and pretended I plucked these beautiful rubies off a tree. Okay, so they weren’t really in a barrel either. But the box they were in had a picture of a wooden crate, honest! Boy, have I got myself a great imagination.

However, in order to celebrate the only day of autumn, we’ll have, possibly until December, I did order a new pair on knee-high boots, dusted off my scarves, and got a new fall scented candle. Living in Texas sure has its perks, but the autumn season certainly isn’t one of them.

Oddly enough, I woke up yesterday to find out we’d we have a cold front coming in! YAY! Only not really, because I also happen to be boarding a plane that very day to head to Sacramento (then on to Napa!) Here’s to hoping it’s still cool-ish when I get back to Houston on Friday.

But regardless of the weather, come October, I like to bake all the fall things. I’ll make myself a pumpkin latte using my favorite coffee machine, I’ll freshen up the house with cozy blankets in each room, and I’ll bake all the apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, and spice things. Speaking of, have you tried my homemade cinnamon swirl bread? Raisin fan or not, you have got to make it for Sunday morning breakfast. And wait until you use the leftover bread to make French toast. Have mercy; it is pure bliss. I’ve also made caramel apple cinnamon rolls if that’s more your jam.

So these homemade apple crumble bars have two main components. The apple filling and the crust/crumble. What I love most about this recipe is that you don’t need a separate recipe for the topping from the crust. It’s all in one, just save some of it, and use it for the top. DELISH!

What kind of apples can you use for apple crumble bars?

The possibilities are endless. Generally, you want to use an apple that can hold up to longer baking time and won’t become mushy. Here’s what I recommend:

• Honey crisp (what I typically use)
• Pink lady
• Gala
• Braeburn
• Granny Smith

I suggest using one of the first four listed unless you want your dessert to have tons of tart flavor, in which case you should go with the Granny Smith.

The apple filling for apple crumble bars:

• Apples
• Cornstarch
• Brown sugar
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon 
• Nutmeg

Do you have to cook your apple filling beforehand?

NO! That’s why I played around with this recipe so so much before sharing it with you. I wanted to make apple crumble bars from scratch, not using store-bought pie filling, but also not having to turn on the stove to make the pie filling. If that sounds confusing, what I’m trying to say is that I want this to be EASY.

And easy is it!

What’s in the crumble for apple crumble bars?

• Rolled oats
• All-purpose flour
• Brown sugar/ granulated sugar
• Melted butter
• Baking powder
• Ground cinnamon

It’s important to note that this recipe calls for rolled oats (sometimes called, old-fashioned or even whole oats) and not quick cooking oats. Quick cooking oats, unfortunately, aren’t a good substitute because as the name suggests, they cook much quicker than old-fashioned oats and would require a different ratio of butter, sugar, etc. For best results, I recommend rolled oats here.

How do you make the crust and crumble for apple crumble bars?

Okay, so I wasn’t kidding when I said this was easy. Mix all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and slowly pour in the butter while you stir or mix using a fork or spoon. When the mixture resembles a sand-like texture, it’s done. Make sure you reserved one-third for the crumble topping.

Tips for success when you make apple crumble bars:

• Here is the baking pan I used. It’s a 12X9.5 rectangle pan so the bars are thicker than what they’d be if you used a traditional 13×9. You can make the same thing in a 13×9 pan but keep in mind that the bars will be slightly thinner and you’ll need to decrease the baking time.
• Be sure to really pack in the crust. You don’t want the bottom to crumble (quite literally)
• When you make your apple mixture, if there’s any water or liquid at the bottom of the bowl, use a slotted spoon to transfer the apples.
• Sometimes, I like to replace the vanilla extract with vanilla bean paste that way you get specks of vanilla throughout the apple filling — heavenly!
• Let the apple crumble bars cool completely before trying to remove them from the baking pan. At least an hour, longer if you can. Once they’ve cooled for an hour, I usually stick them in the refrigerator and let them cool completely, and it makes it so much easier to slice them that way.

I hope you’ll add these homemade apple crumble bars to the list of things to do this weekend. Round up the family and make them help! If you’re decorating for fall or Halloween, these bars would be the perfect dessert to prepare and serve 🙂

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Yield: 12 -16 pieces

Apple Crumble Bars

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Learn how to make the most delicious fall dessert - apple crumble bars! These bars are easy to throw together and perfect for when you’ve gone apple picking!

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Ingredients

Apple filling:

• 2 lbs of apples ~ 4 medium-ish apples, (peeled, cored, finely diced)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon EACH: lemon juice and vanilla 
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg

Crumble:

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar 
• 1 cup melted salted butter
• 1 teaspoon EACH: baking powder and ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. APPLES: In a bowl, toss together all the ingredients for the apples; set aside. Line a 12x9.5 pan with parchment paper; set aside.
2. CRUMBLE: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Mix the oats, flour, sugars, baking powder, and ground cinnamon together in a large bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine until you form a sand-like crumb. Press two-thirds of the prepared crumb mixture into the prepared pan. You want to make sure the crust is tightly packed in.
3. BAKE: Top with the apple mixture and sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack for one hour. I usually stick mine in the refrigerator for a bit after that to cool them down completely before cutting into pieces.

Notes

• If you don’t have salted butter, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the crumble mixture.
• I prefer these bars in a 12x9.5 pan because they are thicker that way and personally, I like the crust to apple ratio a lot here. But you can also bake these in a 13x9 pan, just be sure to check around the 45-50 minute mark as a larger pan will mean they will cook slightly faster.

Have you made this recipe?

If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #LITTLESPICEJAR, I'd love to see what you made!

equipment you’ll need to make apple crumble bars:

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