Apple Pie Bars

These homemade apple pie bars are packed with sweet and tart apples baked over a buttery crust and topped with a creamy glaze.

Traditional apple pie in the form of perfect portion-sized apple pie bars that you can enjoy on any occasion, year-round, and as a simple dessert after dinner.

Have you ever climbed an apple tree to get some ripe apples?

Of course, an apple right off the branch tastes the best, but I promise this is one of the apple recipes you and your family will place a close second.

Why I Love This Apple Pie Bars Recipe

• One of the easiest apple desserts, and definitely easier than apple pie!
• Everything from scratch. No apple pie filling or pre-made crust. Freshly baked homemade apple pie bar tastes incredible! And yet, the prep work takes 20 min tops!
• Egg-free recipe that can also be tweaked to be gluten-free.
• Great use for ANY apples you found during apple picking this season.

Apple Pie Bars Ingredients Notes

The recipe only uses affordable and simple ingredients. These apple bars are super yummy but totally budget-friendly, especially if you grow apples. 

It is also very forgiving. If you don’t have vanilla extract or fancy tools, the bars will still turn out well, I tested them!

Crust Dough

• All-purpose flour and water is the base for our simple pie dough.
• Granulated sugar and salt make sure the crust doesn’t taste bland.
• Cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes for easier mixing, is what actually holds the dough together. The butter needs to be cold, right out of the fridge.

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

• Granulated sugar. You can use brown sugar for more caramel flavor, and it goes great with apples.
• All-purpose flour is a simple thickener for the filling. To make it gluten-free, use amaranth or almond flour. To thicken the filling you can also use corn starch.
• Apple pie spice usually has ground cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and sometimes cardamom and ginger.
• Vanilla extract. If you’re bored with vanilla, try almond extract instead.
• Apples: I find that the best apples to use for apple pies are a combination of sweet apples and tart apples 1:1. I use 3 Granny Smith apples (tart), peeled, cored, and diced, and 3 Gala apples (sweet), cored and diced. I don’t peel sweet apples, but I do peel Granny Smith apples since they often have very thick firm skin.

Creamy Topping

• My topping is a mix of confectioner’s sugar, whole full-fat milk, and vanilla extract. It makes a light sweet creamy drizzle over warm apples. Delicious.

What Are the Best Apples for Apple Pie Bars?

For apple pie bars, use both sweet and tart apples together. A combination of Granny Smith and Royal Gala works amazingly.

Taste

• Tart Apples: Pink Lady, Jonathan, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Cortland, Braeburn, Blushing Golden, and Northern Spy.
• Sweet Apples: Fuji, Honeycrisp, Royal Gala, and Jonagold.

Texture

• Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples soften but remain slightly firm, tart apples often have tougher skins.
• McIntosh and sweet apples become much softer.

Kitchen Equipment

• 9×13-inch pan lined with parchment paper to bake the bars or an 8-inch square pan.
• Food processor. You can use a pastry blender, pastry cutter, or just a fork.

How To Make Homemade Apple Pie Bars

1: Prepare The Dough For Crust

1. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Add the butter and keep pulsing or mixing until fully blended. Keep adding splashes of water to keep the dough moist and easier to combine.
3. Transfer the dough to a flat surface, flour it lightly, and knead the dough 4 or 5 times. 
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal balls and shape it into rectangles. 
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

If you are making this recipe ahead, and not baking immediately, skip to the filling.

If ready to bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and start making the filling.

2 – Mix The Apple Filling

1. Prepare the apples, wash, peel, core, and chop them.
2. Roll out one pie crust pastry onto a lightly floured surface into a 9×13-inch rectangle. Trim the crust if necessary. Press the crust into the bottom of a prepared baking pan with the edges curved slightly up the sides. Set aside.
3. Whisk the sugar, flour, and spices in a large bowl. 
4. Add the apples to the sugar-flour mixture and toss until they are evenly coated. Drizzle the vanilla extract and toss the apples again. 

3 – Assemble The Pie Bars

1. Spread the apple mixture evenly over the prepared pie crust, and leave the edges of the dough open.
2. Roll the remaining dough into a 9×13-inch rectangle. Cover the apple layer with the top crust, and fold the edges over the apples to completely cover them. Press the edges of the top crust into the edges of the bottom crust.
3. Optional, brush the top of the pie crust lightly with egg wash or water.

4 – Bake Apple Pie Bars

1. Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 45 to 50 minutes. 
2. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little bit, for around 20 to 30 minutes.

5 – Add Topping And Serve

1. Add milk, vanilla extract, and confectioner’s sugar in a small bowl, and whisk until the topping is smooth. Drizzle the topping over the bars.
2. Slice into squares and serve warm with a dollop of ice cream.

Storage

Store leftover bars with drizzle topping in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Apple bars without topping can sit out covered for 2 days.

Unglazed apple pie bars freeze well, but you need to let them cool completely.

Store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.  To serve again, let them thaw overnight in the fridge.

To make ahead prepare the dough 1-2 days in advance or freeze it.

Substitutions And Add-ons

• Spices: ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, or apple pie spice (all-in-one options). A little secret spice addition can be cardamom.
• Crust options: shortbread crust is the second-best crust for these bars. But shortbread crust needs pre-baking for 15 minutes.
• Another way of layering the remaining crust (top crust) is to tear it apart lightly and scatter evenly on top. It will bake into small balls of dough, kinda like a doughy crumble topping.
• Salted Caramel Sauce is a fantastic topping to drizzle over the bars and stupid easy to make. Just melt the sugar in a saucepan, then add heavy cream, and butter. Once the mix is boiled, turn off the heat and add salt.
• Homemade thick applesauce with apple chunks is a good alternative to the apple filling.
• Crumble topping with or without rolled oats, made of melted butter, flour mixture, and brown sugar. It is my second-best topping for pie bars.
• You can always add lemon juice to the apple pie bar recipe because acidity helps brighten the flavors and make a fruity taste come forward.
• To add texture to the crust you can mix in some finely chopped or ground nuts.
• Pecans, whole or halved, toasted or candied are great for topping.
• Homemade glaze with cream cheese. Combine cream cheese, maple syrup, butter, powdered sugar, and milk. All dairy products should be at room temperature.

Tips To Make The Best Apple Pie Bars

• To press the dough into the pan with your hands, flour your hands lightly. You can use the bottom of a glass or the back of a spoon for that too.
• When mixing flour with a wooden spoon, lightly flour the spoon so the batter doesn’t stick to it too much.
• Diced apples are easier to use for pie bars than apple slices because we will cut them and it is easier to cut equal pieces when the filling uses chunks. However, if you prefer slices, keep them relatively equal at 1/4th inch thick.
• Add egg yolk to pastry crust to keep it together and add richness to it.
• To easily transfer freshly rolled dough to the prepared pan, use a rolling pin. Hang the dough disk over it and move.
• You can pre-bake the crust for 12 minutes and while the crust bakes, do the filling. It can keep the crust from getting soggy.
• Precooking apples may be a good idea to make sure they will cook through till soft while baking. But it is totally optional!

Popular Questions

How To Keep Apples From Turning Brown?

Freshly cut apples turn brown in under 15 minutes.

Soaking apples in salted water for 5 minutes, and tossing them with lemon juice or vinegar can keep chopped apples fresh for a week.

However, not everyone loves the flavor of treated apples.

How to Soften Apples for Baking?

If your apples are too firm for baking, try softening them by macerating. Here’s how:

1. Chop the apples into bite-sized pieces and place them in a medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle sugar over the apples, using your hands to toss until every piece is evenly coated.
3. Add a light drizzle of lemon juice over the apples to keep them from browning and enhance the flavor.
4. Allow the mixture to sit for about 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Once softened, the apples are ready to be added to your batter.

Personally, I don’t macerate Granny Smith apples, I just peel them and it seems to be enough to cook them properly.

If you love this slab pie recipe, you’re going to love these other tasty pies too. Please click each link below to find the easy, printable recipe!

More Tasty Apple Recipes

Mini Apple Pies

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

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