With a buttery crumble crust and sweet apple filling, these homemade apple crumble bars are soft, chewy, and absolutely delightful any time of the year.
The best apple crumble bars
These are pretty much guaranteed to disappear at parties!
Imagine all the deliciousness of traditional hot apple crumble, conveniently packed into a bar, with cinnamon apples pressed between a shortbread crust and crumble topping.
If you are looking for a simple and delightful seasonal dessert that isn’t pumpkin, be sure to give these classic baked apple crumble bars a try.
Also make these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve now done raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, peach, and cherry pie versions of the recipe, but apple might just be my favorite flavor.
There is just something so cozy and comforting about the apple cinnamon combination paired with the rich crust and topping.
It’s a perfect dessert, not just for the Fall season, but also for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, or any time you are craving apple pie!
Readers also love this Brownie in a Mug
Apple crumble bar ingredients
For the recipe, you will need flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, salt, sweetener, a fat source, cornstarch or arrowroot, and diced apple.
The bars work with white all purpose flour or with spelt flour or oat flour for healthy whole grain apple bars. I have not tried the bars with whole wheat flour and do not recommend using coconut flour or almond flour.
If you do not wish to use refined sugar, feel free to swap it out for an equal amount of unrefined coconut sugar, date sugar, or sugar free granulated erythritol or xylitol.
To sweeten the apples, you can use pure maple syrup, honey, agave, or any other all purpose liquid or granulated sweetener.
As a fun flavor variation, you can also stir in a handful of shredded coconut, finely chopped walnuts, or raisins with the diced apples.
The pastry crust can be made with butter, coconut oil, or even softened almond butter. For low fat apple crumble bars, replace three tablespoons of the fat with milk of choice.
As mentioned earlier, some or all of the apples can easily be swapped out for blackberries, cherries, blueberries, peaches, mango, or other fruit of choice.
Apple crumble bar recipe video
Watch the step by step video above.
Caramel apple crumble bars
If you are feeling really decadent, sprinkle a layer of finely chopped salted caramels on top of the apple layer before adding the crumble topping.
While these salted caramel apple bars might not be the healthiest option, they are a melt-in-your-mouth decadent autumn treat to enjoy in moderation and are always super popular at parties.
Update: Try this full recipe for Caramel Apple Bars
How to make apple crumble bars
Gather the ingredients, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line an eight inch square baking pan with parchment paper, or grease it well. Then set this pan aside.
In a large mixing bowl, stir the cinnamon, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir in the butter or oil and optional milk of choice. Also add a fourth teaspoon of salt if using oil or unsalted butter.
Press about two thirds of this pastry dough very firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan to form a pie crust. Reserve the remaining dough.
Toss the peeled and diced apples with the cornstarch and liquid sweetener. Spread this easy apple pie filling evenly over the crust.
Sprinkle the reserved dough on top, and press this crumb topping down firmly.
Place the pan on the oven’s center rack. Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool before slicing, during which time the bars will firm up.
Storing the apple bars
Leftovers can be covered and stored on the counter overnight, with a small opening to allow moisture to escape and thus prevent against gummy bars.
After a day, refrigerate the apple crumble bars in an airtight container for freshness.
Or freeze the bars, with a layer of parchment paper in between each bar so they do not stick together. Thaw frozen bars before serving.
This recipe makes about twenty to twenty five apple crumble slices. I cut them into twenty five apple squares for the pictures.
The bars were adapted from my Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
Is the recipe vegan, gluten free, or keto?
For vegan apple crumble bars, simply choose a plant based butter spread or go with the coconut oil or almond butter. The bars are already naturally egg free.
Use certified gluten free oat flour to make gluten free apple crumble bars. I have not tried all purpose gluten free flour here, but please feel free to experiment!
While this recipe is not low carb or keto friendly, I do have many other keto dessert options, including Keto Cookies, Keto Cake, and Keto Cheesecake.
Apple Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (spelt, white, or oat)
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup sugar or coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup butter or coconut oil or almond butter
- 3 tbsp milk of choice or additional butter
- 3 1/4 cup diced apple (2 large or 3 medium)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup or sweetener of choice
InstructionsÂ
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Stir the first five ingredients together, then cut in the butter or stir in the oil. (Also add an additional 1/4 tsp salt if using oil or unsalted butter.) Press about 2/3 of the dough firmly into the bottom of an 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper. Toss the apples with the cornstarch and liquid sweetener, then spread this over the crust. Sprinkle remaining dough evenly over everything, and press down. Bake 50 minutes, then let cool before slicing into bars.The coconut oil version of the apple crumble bars (which is shown in the photos) will be more crumbly, so I recommend chilling the bars before cutting for cleaner slices.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Apple Dessert Recipes
Overnight Oats (including an apple cinnamon version)
I was wondering how many bars this made…if cut the size of the ones in the picture?
As I wanted to divide the recipe and make a small amount just for myself haha
Scrolling thru the comments, I saw Katie mentioning it made 8 bars ^~^
I had applesauce left over which was about to expire ( it expires 7 days after opening…is that normal?:o) and I saw this recipe. So although it had no applesauce in it, I saw the Raspberry Cobbler Bar which seemed pretty similar except the butter was replaced by applesauce. So me being me, I decided to wing it and replace the butter with 1/2 cup applesauce and half the amt of milk. But the dough didn’t become crumbly as in the recipe and instead it was pretty sticky….kind of like cookie dough… So I guess it’s a failure for an Apple Crumble Bar, but it still tastes pretty good haha just that the crust is soft and not crispy/crumbly xD just FYI for those thinking abt making it fat-free
I made these with only applesauce instead of oil and they turned out great! It’s sort of a crunchy texture with out the oil but it’s still really good. I also don’t use any sugar, just a packet of stevia and its enough for me. I think the sweetness from the apples is just right. Lastly, I use coconut nectar instead (and only a tablespoon) with tapioca starch. I make this at least once a week in the fall. love love love!! Thank you
I specifically bought organic Ambrosia apples for this after seeing all the comments, and I ate so many of the pieces as I was chopping, I was worried I wouldn’t have enough for 2 cups lol. Turns out I did 😉 They were the perfect crisp and flavor. Normally I’m ALL about the Gala ones though.
Anyway… I just took this out of the oven and I’m sitting here patiently while it cools. I already KNOW that it is going to taste delicious because there has not been one thing I’ve ever made from your website that WASN’T mind-blowing. I’m just hoping there is at least some left for tomorrow, because after my boyfriend gets his hands on it after dinner…. there’s no telling what will happen! 🙂
McIntosh have always been and will always be my favourite apple. They might not be great for apple pie due to their high moisture, but they are perfect for apple crisp, apple sauce, and baked apples. And they are great to just eat straight out of the crate.
It’s my son’s b-day today. I wonder how he’d feel about getting a Birthday Apple Crisp instead of a Cake. lol
Hi Kate
Would you let me know how many slices you cut your apple crumble bar into. Thanks
Hi,
I’d like to try making the apple crumb bars for Thanksgiving this week but I avoid using cornstarch because it’s GMO. Any suggestions on a good alternative for cornstarch in this recipe? Would arrowroot powder work?
Thank you so much! I love your site! I just found it a few days ago and have been referring back to it obsessively! I think Santa Hubby is getting me your book for Christmas next month 🙂
Rapunzel (available at whole foods) makes a non-gmo cornstarch.
Hi! These bars look great! Do you think it would be ok to add some mini choc chips??
Thanks!!
So, yesterday, I was really stressed and one of my go-to stress relievers is baking (duh)…But I was also in a hurry, didn’t read through the directions, and I accidentally combined all the ingredients into one big blob. Although I was looking forward to the apple crumble bars, I decided to bake it anyway because you can’t really go wrong when mixing apples, butter, and cinnamon, right? It turned out to be this delicious, gooey apple cake/bread!! Such a wonderful mistake! So, for anyone that ends up making the same mistake I did, just go with it!! I also added a raw, vegan almond-based icing to the top. So good! Thanks for all the amazing recipes, Katie!! Keep ’em coming!
What kind of pan is 4×7 a loaf pan??