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Layered caramel apple bars make a delicious, crowd-pleasing fall dessert! Made with an oatmeal cookie crust and crumble topping, the bars are baked in an 8-inch pan, no mixer required! Featuring a spiced apple filling topped with caramel sauce, these easy apple pie bars taste just like warm apple crisp or the best homemade apple pie.
A buttery, brown sugar crust and crumble topping envelop a layer of tender apples and rich salted caramel sauce in these irresistible bars.
Serve bars warm with an extra drizzle of salted caramel sauce (or a scoop of vanilla ice cream!) for the very best fall dessert.
Love baking with apples? Check out my full collection of apple dessert recipes for more inspiration!
Key Ingredients
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour in the crust and crumble. If you’d like to make these bars gluten-free, I recommend using a gluten free 1-1 baking flour for best results.
- Oats – I recommend regular rolled oats instead of quick-cooking oats for the best texture.
- Brown sugar – Use light or dark brown sugar in the crust/crumble mixture. Dark brown sugar will add a slightly richer molasses flavor.
- Baking soda – Gives the bars a bit of a lift.
- Salt – For flavor.
- Butter – Melted unsalted butter brings the oatmeal crumble mixture together easily.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract adds rich flavor to the crust and crumble.
- Apples – You’ll need 2 cups of peeled and diced apples. I used a blend of Fuji, Granny Smith, and Golden Delicious apples. Honeycrisp or pink lady apples are also delicious.
- Lemon juice – A teaspoon of fresh lemon juice balances out the flavor of the apple filling.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar sweetens the apple filling.
- Cinnamon – Adds cozy spice flavor to the apples. You can also use apple pie spice.
- Starch – Arrowroot starch or cornstarch prevents the apple filling from being too juicy.
- Salted caramel sauce – A must for caramel apple bars! 🙂
How to Make Caramel Apple Bars
Crust and crumble – The crust and crumble mixture is made with flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, melted butter, and vanilla. Once combined, the mixture resembles oatmeal cookie dough.
Press the mixture evenly and firmly into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan, reserving 3/4 cup of the mixture for the topping (keep chilled). Bake the crust for 14 to 16 minutes, until set, then cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.
Apple filling – Toss diced apples with a splash of lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and arrowroot starch (or cornstarch). For baking, I like a mix of sweet-tart apples with a semi-firm texture.
Salted caramel sauce – Homemade salted caramel sauce adds the most incredible flavor to these caramel apple bars! The caramel sauce can be made ahead (gently re-warm in the microwave before using).
Assemble bars – Spoon the apple filling over the cooled crust and drizzle the apples with 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce. Sprinkle the reserved crumble over the apple layer and return the pan to the oven.
Bake – Bake the bars for another 35 to 40 minutes, or until the crumble topping is golden and the filling is slightly bubbly. Cool bars completely in pan on a wire rack.
Serve – Just before serving, chill the bars in the freezer for 10 minutes, then cut into squares with a sharp knife. Drizzle the bars with remaining homemade caramel sauce and enjoy!
More caramel apple treats you’ll love:
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie
- Caramel Apple Puff Pastry Tarts
- Apple Cider Layer Cake
- Caramel Apple Coffee Cake
- Salted Caramel Apple Tart
Did you try these Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars? Let me know by leaving a comment and rating below!
Print
Easy Caramel Apple Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Layered caramel apple bars make a delicious, crowd-pleasing fall dessert! Made with an oatmeal cookie crust and crumble topping, the bars are baked in an 8-inch pan, no mixer required! Featuring a spiced apple filling topped with caramel sauce, these easy apple pie bars taste just like warm apple crisp or the best homemade apple pie.
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Apple Filling
- 2 cups peeled and diced apples
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot starch (or cornstarch)
Caramel
1/2 cup salted caramel sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make crust and crumble: Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Fold in melted butter and vanilla until combined. Reserve 3/4 cup of dough for topping (keep chilled); press remaining dough evenly into bottom of prepared pan.
- Bake crust for 14 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
- Make apple filling: Place apples and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Whisk together sugar, cinnamon, and arrowroot starch; add to bowl with apples and toss together until combined.
- Spoon apple filling evenly over the cooled crust and drizzle the apples with 1/4 cup salted caramel sauce. Crumble reserved dough over the top.
- Bake bars for another 35 to 40 minutes, or until topping is golden and filling slightly bubbly. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
- Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 10 minutes. Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife. Drizzle with remaining salted caramel sauce.
- Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator and warm briefly before serving.
Notes
Oats: I recommend regular rolled oats instead of quick-cooking oats for the best texture.
Apples: I used a blend of Fuji, Granny Smith, and Golden Delicious apples. Honeycrisp or pink lady apples are also delicious.
Gluten Free Bars: Use your favorite 1-1 gluten-free flour and gluten-free oats.
Larger Batch: For a larger batch of bars, double the recipe and bake in a 9 x 13-inch rectangular baking pan.
Served these with vanilla ice cream & salted Caramel sauce: delish & easy!
Hi Chris, glad to hear these bars were a hit!
Do you use quick cooking rolled oats or regular rolled oats? Thanks!
Hi Jen! I use regular rolled oats. 🙂
There’s nothing better than apples paired with salted caramel. I made these bars as a last minute dessert for my dinner guests, and they were an absolute hit!
Hi Amy! I’m so happy to hear that, thank you for your feedback on these bars!
These bars are so delicious! We loved them topped with caramel sauce and ice cream!
Thank you so much, Jodi! 🙂
Made these with gluten free measure for measure flour and quick oats and they came out perfect!!! So delicious! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Hi Lisa, so glad these bars were a success! 🙂
These are terrific! Apples paired with caramel are what fall dreams are made of. If I could eat these every morning with my french press coffee I would. An easy bar to make in batches and share with neighbors, family, or to encourage those working in essential services.