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Apple Crumble Bars

5 from 28 votes

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.

Homemade Apple Pie Bars

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

Apple Crumble Bars

I’ve now done raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, peach, and cherry pie versions of the recipe, but apple might just be my favorite flavor.

There’s 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

Diced Cinnamon Apples Baking

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 recipe works 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.

Fall Apple Cinnamon Squares

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.

Cinnamon Diced Apples In A Pan

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.

Dessert Apple Bars

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

Vegan Apple Crumble 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.

Super Healthy Apple Crumble Bars
Pin it now to save for laterPin Recipe

Apple Crumble Bars

These sweet homemade apple crumble bars are a delightful dessert any time of the year.
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Yield 20 – 25 bars
5 from 28 votes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups spelt, white, or oat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
  • 3/4 cup butter, coconut oil, or almond butter (150g)
  • 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

Instructions

  • 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 (which is shown in the photos) will be more crumbly, so I recommend chilling the bars before cutting for cleaner slices.
    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

You may also like this Chocolate Banana Bread.
 

Have you made this recipe?

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Published on October 30, 2022

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170 Comments

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    • Genet says

      I would think that chocolate, CARMEL and apple would be a divine combo too. . . .as I LOVE those large chocolate covered carmel apples at the candy shops!

    • cassie says

      Chocolate apple combo is definitely a winner! I made apple chocolate chip cookies a couple weeks ago and they were all the rave!!!

  1. Camille says

    I too like Pink Lady apples but right now my favourite is Ambrosia–not too sweet and super crisp. I hear you on the mushy–mushy apples are the worst! they don’t even cook well. I am trying these bars for sure! thanks so much!!

  2. Leo says

    Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet another Pink Lady lover! No one I know seems to have heard of them, which is a shame because they are so crisp and not too sweet and amazing unpeeled

  3. Alexandra (Veggin' Out in the Kitchen) says

    These look amazing, Katie!!! Of course, no surprise there! 😀

    I also love how you’re going to use up the leftover apples – I’ve made your apple pancakes two or three times, once for dinner! Yum, yum 🙂

    My favorite apples are honeycrisps!! I’ve been eating at least one a day lately 🙂

    <3 <3

  4. Kat @ a dash of fairydust says

    Oooooh,these look SO good! I really have to try them,soon!
    Sadly,I cannot tolarate raw apples so good (with baked ones,it’s a different story!) – they always make my stomach ache 🙁 But sometimes,I just HAVE to eat one and OF COURSE,my favorite kind of apple is the Pink Lady! 😀 I hate Gala apples though,they are so… sweet. But in a negative way. Ugh.

  5. Anonymous says

    Oh man, chocolate and apples can be a great combination!
    My favourite thing is Honeycrisp apples, made kind of like a caramel apple. Instead of dipping them in caramel, though, you dip them in tempered dark chocolate, then quickly roll them in a mixture of oats and almonds (toasted lightly in a dry skillet, then pulsed in a food processor until uniform in size) before the chocolate sets up. Sometimes I throw little star confetti sprinkles into oat/almond mix. Yum!

  6. Tori says

    It’s all about the Honeycrisp apples, which of course have a growing season of about 5 minutes. The ones at whole foods have been huge and delicious all season.

  7. Raquel @ Ovenmitts says

    These look great! I will definitely give them a go. I wonder how they would turn out with a graham cracker crust type thing on the bottom… We will see!

    I get my apples locally from a small family-owned orchard. They are the absolute best, nice and tart and sweet. When I am forced to buy them from the store, I am always disappointed. They just don’t compare!

  8. Crystal says

    Pink Ladies are BY FAR my favorite!! They are like candy to me! I haven’t been able to find them in the stores for the past several weeks they seem to have been replaced by Honey crisps which are my new second favorite … they have a wonderful texture!

  9. Erin says

    These look awesome. What did you dress up as for the party you went to? 🙂 My favorite apples are gala but i also love fuji. Delicious!

  10. Amanda says

    I just found your blog and I’m so happy I did! These apple crumble bars looks so good. I love how you take indulgent recipes and health-ify them just a bit, without compromising flavor!

    Can’t wait to read more. 🙂

  11. dishmo says

    you’ve never had chocolate dipped apples?!? they’re the best! there’s a store called “Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory” that pretty much specializes in chocolate dipped apples. they have a bunch of different seasonal “flavors” – i think you’d be obsessed (lol)!

    check it out – a healthy(er) vegan version would be awesome: https://rockymountainchocolatefactory.com/rmcf/control/productList

    they’re also all about chocolate dipped apples on food network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chocolate-dipped-apples-recipe/index.html (paula deen – hehe)

  12. Robin says

    These look incredible.
    My favourite apples are Pink Ladys too, but I rarely get them as they are terribly expensive. I usually have Royal Gala, and Granny Smith occasionally (I only eat them cold too!).

  13. Ellen says

    Oh my golly, these look good. And I totally back the idea of playing with chocolate/apple combos. Both things are good with cinnamon, so I bet some combination of that would be good.
    As for apples, fujis and pink ladies tie for faves, although if you can get your hands on a good, crisp red delicious, I do think they can be sublime:)

  14. Katie Ann says

    I just had chocolate apple oatmeal this morning! I dice up a little granny smith apple into my oatmeal every morning (just throw it in there with the oats and water and cook an extra minute or so in the microwave, I like the added bulk and texture), and today I wanted to make chocolate oatmeal. I had to pause to consider whether the combination would work, and then shrugged internally, figuring it’d still be edible at worst. Very tasty, especially with some red raspberry preserves on top, too.

    My favorite apple is the SweeTango, some wacky new species I just discovered this season, or the similar (and easier to find) Honeycrisp. It must be crisp and tart and juicy, whatever breed it is!

  15. Emma (Sweet Tooth Runner) says

    These look SO GOOD!! Crumble is so good! When I was a kid I used to just pick off all the crumble and eat that! Not that I still do that sometimes or anything 😉

    And definitely Pink Lady apples!! Or HONEYCRISP!! They are so delicious!!

  16. Nathalie says

    Pink Lady apples are definitely the best. Have you ever been to the Reading Terminal Market in Philly? There’s a vendor there who sells loads of produce for way cheap; My sis and I would always load up on Pink Ladies from there.

    I’ve heard Honeycrisp are really good, but I’ve never tried one. Gotta wait until I’m back stateside for that!

  17. Amber K says

    Personally I’d rather have caramel with apples than chocolate. HoneyCrisp and Ambrosia apples are THE best. Pink Lady after that. Never Red Delicious for eating – those are great to make applesauce with, always mush.

  18. Shelby says

    Fabulous recipe! My favorite apples as of late have been Cortland and Jonagold fresh from the local farmer’s market.

  19. jo @ including cake says

    Mmmmm, apples!! I love Braeburns best and I grate one into my bowl of oats every morning and top it off with cinnamon- i have a bit of a cinnamon addiction going on at the moment! I know what you mean about mushy apples (I always have to press the apples when i buy them to check) ‘mashed potato’ apple (as i call it) is just wrong!

  20. Karen, WA state says

    These look fantabulous! Our favorite apples are Honeycrisps, with Pink Ladies as a close second.Gonna be cooking class for my 9 year old son tomorrow… Thanx!

  21. Megan says

    Pink Ladys are the ABSOLUTE BEST apples! I absolutely love them! If those are not available, I like Jazz, Fuji, or Honeycrisp. I also only like apples cold… Your bars look cinnamon-y and delicious! I agree with you about Red Delicious- which is ironically what restaurants and stores always carry. Maybe most people (besides foodies) are not particular about their apples?

  22. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says

    The bars look great. I’ve had fun making baked apple bars this fall too with just about any apple combo…I use whatever was on sale and whatever apples I have on hand…up to a point.

    I agree, Red Delicious apples are my least-favorites; and Gala & Fujis top my list of ones I like because they are crisp. I hate mushy apples!

  23. Lou says

    Pink Lady’s are my fav apple too – such an amazing flavour (I only discovered these once I moved to Australia, as they don’t grow in New Zealand) Wow, these bars looks so delicious, I’m totally going to give these a whirl 🙂

  24. Anonymous says

    I just found your blog and although I am not vegan, we eat whole, natural foods, so I am always on the hunt for a good & healthier dessert. I totally agree with your statement that you don’t want people to say “This is good… for a healthy dessert.” I want them to say, “This is good. Period.” My question is about sugar. Have you ever tried any recipe’s with sucanat, and if so, would you grind it first since the crystals are bigger than processed brown sugar? I can’t wait to try your recipe’s!!

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Aww I’m so glad you found me! And it’s so funny you’d mention Sucanat, because I *just* tried it for the first time last week. Now I am hooked! It’s soooo good… I love the gingerbread flavor.

      So far I’ve only tried it in one recipe, but I am planning to use it A LOT in the future, so my future recipes (maybe starting in the next few weeks) will definitely include Sucanat.

  25. Molly@This Life Is Sparkling says

    yum! I’ll be making these:) My favorite kind of apple would probably be honey crisp or pink lady. Both so good!

  26. Anonymous says

    Those look really yummy. And pink lady apples have to be my favorites.
    Also, the commenting thing looks really funny. It looks like I’m you Katie. If the comment looks like myself instead of you then just disregard this.
    -Aja from writingandrecovering.wordpress.com

  27. Kristin says

    Hi Katie,

    Just letting you know that I’m sending you the Versatile Blogger award. I just found and really enjoy your site. I can’t wait to try some recipes!

    You can pick up the button, if you’d like to pass it on, at my site. 🙂

  28. JennyBakes says

    These look amazing and I’m bookmarking to try soon.

    My favorite apples are mutsu – I love to use them for baking because they are firm and hold up well like Granny Smith but not as tart.

  29. Char @ www.charskitchen.ca says

    yesss!! I had everything to make these except the apples, but then my man came home with a MASSIVE box of apples 😀 😀 !! hot apple crumble bars it is 🙂

    …also, Pink Ladies are my faves, too 😉 they’re all gone from here for the year, though 🙁 *le sigh*

  30. Adam says

    yum! I love apple desserts, well I just love apples period!

    my favorites are Ambrosia.. not all that common in stores I don’t think, but they’re soo good.. juicy and just sweet enough.. kind of like a Honeycrisp, but better! if you ask me anyway 🙂

  31. Sparklewolfie says

    These look so delicious!! I want to try it 🙂

    Chocolate-covered apples are very good, too. it is like caramel apples, but with chocolate! I had one once at the Chocolate mountain (I think is the store name) and it was a bit too sweet, but still good!

    My favorite apples are Honey Crisp!

  32. Gabby says

    Made these last night for a potluck I’m going to today! Just wondering, what kind of vegan butter did you use in your recipe to get it to 84 calories? Thanks for posting these I’ll let you know how they go!

  33. Sandra says

    I have to defend my favorite apple Red delish ( sens no one sems to like it) its relly god, but dont by the mushy ones! they dont taste god! but witch apple is god mushy? I alwas go for the real crispie apples! regardless of witch apple brand!

    this recepie comes in very handy because i have left over apples from the garden, and they starting to lose the crisp so they are perfekt to bake with! 🙂

  34. Renata says

    If you are even considering making these bars…DO IT! I made these bars yesterday with a mix of Granny Smith and Fuji apples (I doubled the recipe, used a 9×13 pan, and used 1/2 ww pastry flour and 1/2 ap flour, I also opted for the brown sugar instead of Stevia) and they were such a hit that sadly, there are no bars this morning. You will be so delighted and so will those who gobble these up if you make them. Pronto!

  35. natalie @ southern fit foodie says

    These look amazing! For my birthday, my colleagues sent me a tray of fruit from edible arrangements that included chocolate covered apple slices. They rocked. 🙂

    I love apples (except red delicious.- they are always mushy and mealy). My top three are honeycrisp, sweet tango, and pink lady.

  36. Trina says

    These look amazing! My favorite apples are Jazz. A bit similar to Pink Lady apples, but maybe a bit more tart. They are a great blend of tart and sweet in my opinion. I love to eat them cold too 🙂

  37. Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFIles says

    I HATE mushy apples. And Red Delicious in general. Honeycrisp are my favorite lately.

    These look awesome! I promised the bf I’d bake if he drove me to the airport at an ungodly hour this week. Perhaps this is the ticket to a happy boy!

  38. Lilja says

    Hey, your blog is the cutest!
    I have tried to microwave 70 % chocolate bits so it gets wet like a butter and then cut an apple in half and butter it on the apple and let it dry in the fridge.

    It is so delicious, and a chocoholic like you should try it.
    I would recommend to put either tiniest bit of cinnamon or ginger( or both!) on the apple before applying chocolate.

  39. Brittany @ GOtheXtraMile says

    Pink lady’s are my absolute favorite apples! I can NEVER find them in the store though, why is that? Luckily honey crisp are right up there with the pink lady’s. I think apples and chocolate is soo good 🙂

  40. Felicia ( Natural+Balanced) says

    i made this tuesday and my family LOVED it. the only changes i made was playing with the flour- i had buckwheat, brown rice and spelt that i needed to use up so i mixed all those, and i used coconut flour instead of butter. DELICIOUS! thanks for your great recipes!

  41. Sam says

    I made this last night and subbed out the flour for almond meal. It came out delish! I came home today after classes to find only a small square left as my partner ate the rest of it. I plan on trying this out with pumpkin next

  42. Caryn says

    I was thinking about trying this with some soaked dates instead of the brown sugar. (I’m trying to go light on sugar these days). Think it would work? I’d reduce the liquid in general, and maybe some of the oil/butter too.

      • Caryn says

        I tried it! The flavor was great but I think I might have to work on the proportions. I used maybe a half a cup of soaked dates + coconut oil + one packet of stevia. The crust came out a little hard, but it tasted great. I might add a little more liquid to the apples next time, or maybe cook them a bit on the stove in advance. But I think the substitution of dates for brown sugar could definitely be perfected.

  43. The Feed says

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  44. odorunara says

    Honeycrisp in the US, Jonagold in Japan. Fuji is okay, too.

    I think I lost my bread pan in the move, so I used a larger pan than called for and definitely need to try making this again correctly. (Tasted great but didn’t quite spread out right.) I used (non-vegan) yogurt in place of butter/butter substitute because I didn’t have any butter-type thing in the fridge and that worked fine.

    Normally after sort of failing to get it right I wouldn’t comment, but I had to ask–for the 85 calories, do you make it into 8 (or 14?) bars like the raspberry version? There wasn’t a serving number on this recipe or the calorie info, so I checked out the original raspberry recipe. Thanks!

  45. BeccaG says

    Ok, these are positively EVIL!!!! In a good way of course, but I couldn’t stop eating them! My husband really liked them too and he loves things like apple pie, apple crisp etc. He devoured them! Unfortunately so did I so I won’t be making these very often. 🙂

  46. Emily says

    So, you could use ONLY gluten free oat flour in here and it would be ok? I wasn’t sure since there would be absolutely NO gluten.. Didn’t know if it would hold together and such…any thoughts? I’m trying to make it gluten free. 🙂

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      I’d recommend using a gf mix, such as Arrowhead Mills or Bob’s gf mix. If you used all coconut flour, for example, it’d be crumbly. Another thought is to use a blend of different gf flours and add a little xantham gum, but I’ve never tried it and don’t know the proportions. To be safe, I’d try and find a premade mix.

    • Sara says

      I made it gluten free by using almond flour instead of wheat flour. I don’t get the same coverage Katie does on the top – it looks more like apple crisp with bits of apple sticking out – but it’s amazingly delicious. Crumbly when warm, but holds together well when cold. Of course, I made other modifications so I can’t guarantee that yours will be the same (chilled coconut oil instead of vegan butter and no sugar except the packet of stevia) but you can try as you like if almonds agree with you.

  47. Hannah says

    Very delicious! I am new to veganism, and this recipe really hit the spot. Even my parents loved it, and they’re always making fun of my cooking endeavors. Thank you!

  48. Audrey says

    When I used to work at Edible Arrangements they’d let us eat some of the fruit and chocolate covered granny smith apples are DELICIOUS! Sweet and tangy.

  49. Brittany says

    I really LOVE the idea of these bars but the only thing holding me back is the butter. Id like to leave it out or sub butter for more apple sauce. What do you think? I say your raspberry cobbler bars have no butter but I want apple and a bar that looks soft like the apple ones not crumbly or scone-ish like the raspberry cobbler bars.

  50. Felicia says

    I just made these today, but instead of cutting into bars, I made it as a pie. My family loved it! My grandpa, who initially turned down the huge portion I dished out to him, finished the slice (with whipped cream!) in record time!
    I had to change up the recipe a bit… Since I was fresh out of brown sugar, I substituted some more white sugar + a tbs of honey. Delicious! I also drizzled a little caramel sauce on the pie before baking… Yum!

  51. Cole says

    Ah, hindsight… In writing down the instructions by hand I see I dropped the “1” from “1 1/2 C flour”… That explains a lot. Heh, well it’s in the oven now, let’s see what happens.

  52. Megan says

    This blog is AMAZING! Almost all of these recipes have ingredients found in my household! I just started a vegan diet and was worried about how bland and difficult my life would become, then I found this blog and I am so excited to try all of these recipes!! I am about to start out with this recipe as my first try. The only thing I am missing is vegan butter, is there any other substitution you know of besides coconut oil?
    Thank you for being so… Awesome!!

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Thank you so much for such a sweet comment. Maybe another type of oil will work, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t vouch for the results. Many regular grocery stores do carry Earth Balance, so it’s worth looking if you haven’t already.

  53. Alyssa says

    I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have found you!! I started eating vegan after I had my son last fall as he is dairy and egg intolerant so I’m having to relearn how to eat after 27 years. Up until now I’ve been living on veggie hummus wraps for all meals the last 6 months…so you are my saving grace! I made these last night and even my crazy picky husband loved them. I did use all agave instead of any sugar and they are seriously fabulous….i also drizzled a little melted chocolate over top bc you know chocolate is totally essential. Although the biggest hit so far has been the deep dish cookie…oh if you could have seen his jaw drop when I said it was chick pea based! Priceless! You totally rock!!

  54. Kristy says

    I made these tonight with coconut oil, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 5 packets of Stevia. I used 1/3 each whole wheat, white, and oat flour, and a little roasted coconut. They were fantastic, everyone I had over had seconds. This is my favourite recipe of yours after the chick pea blondies. Keep them coming, you are awesome!

  55. vogelstar says

    my hubby and I made these last night to celebrate my new baking pan 🙂
    perfect choice for it’s first dessert

  56. Mandy Cheshire says

    This was FABULOUS! Really! I used coconut oil in place of vegan butter, and the slight hint of coconut was wonderful with the apples! Everything about this recipe (texture, taste, etc.) was perfect! We all enjoyed it, and my daughter, who is 4, said she wants this every day. She said, “We can eat our vegetables and then THIS!” 🙂

  57. Lorraine says

    I made these on Saturday, and they were so delicious! I have just about polished the whole 8″ pan off by myself, because lucky for me, my husband doesn’t like them. I told him there is something wrong with his tastebuds.

  58. RE says

    Yumm!!! I love crisp and the “crisp” topping is my favorite. So I’m salivating and wishing I had bought lots of apples earlier at the market!

    I really loved JonaGold apples this season. I usually love pink ladies or honey crisp.

    Am I the odd man out that likes a red delicious apple!?!? It’s so juicy and fluffy soft lol.

    This looks amazing and ill be making it with coconut oil bc of dairy allergy and I stopped using earth balance vegan butter bc it is sook bad for you!!! Go research!

  59. Mary says

    These look great. My favorite apple is Ginger Gold, but the are only available for a very short time, and much like red delicious they do get soft. I bet this would be fab with pears as well? Has anyone tried this with gluten free flour? I think I will make it tomorrow!!

  60. Marnie says

    My favorite apple of all times is Honey Crisp. It’s only available for a short time and it’s kind of expensive for an apple but definitely worth the wait and the price! Thanks for the great recipe for apple crumble bars Katie!

  61. Aimee B. says

    Wow, this looks AMAZING and perfect for chilly fall weather. I think I’d like mine with a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream. 🙂

    My favorite apples are and always have been McIntosh. I have a hard time finding them though. :/ My kids have always loved Granny Smiths.

  62. SkiGirl says

    Is there a way to make this with a pumpkin filliing? I’m a new vegetarian and want to try to introduce the “world of healthy eating” to a bunch of skepticals. I really want to make this for thanksgiving, but I can’t figure out how to make a pumpkin filling, or if it would even be good! Please HELP!!!!!!!!

  63. SkiGirl says

    Is there a way to make this with a pumpkin filliing? I’m a new vegetarian and want to try to introduce the “world of healthy eating” to a bunch of skepticals. I really want to make this for thanksgiving, but I can’t figure out how to make a pumpkin filling, or if it would even be good! Please HELP!!!!

  64. Kelsey says

    A new favorite. Changes since I am not vegan, but am wheat/corn/dairy and sugar free: Added 1 egg. Used honey and Xylitol instead of other sugars. Used almond milk. Flour blend was Bob’s Red Mill GF flour mix w/ xantham gum. Chose real butter (an allergy splurge since I was sharing this with friends) for inside and coconut oil for topping glaze (from single serving apple crumble recipe). Swapped cornstarch for tapioca flour. Used pears instead of apples–it’s what I had on hand. SOOOO YUMMY! Drizzled glaze on top after baking while cooling. Thanks Katie for another hit!

  65. Riana says

    I made this for my husband one day and now he asks for it ALL THE TIME…yaaay. (that’s sarcasm 😉 ) He usually doesn’t like my cooking. I use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour and half coconut sugar/half brown sugar. Thank you Katie for your delicious recipe! (that I have to make all the time).

  66. Vicky says

    Thank you for another fabulous recipe Katie! I happened to have a couple Pink Lady apples in the house (1 was just right for the recipe), so finding this was perfect timing. My favorite is a tie: Honey Crisp and/or Pink Lady.

    I made the recipe exactly as written, and I may get bold and make apple/raspberry next time. Will report back!

  67. Nancy Tipton says

    try braeburn apples (from new zealand) when they’re in season…wonderfully sweet and tart, very crisp, very good…

  68. Erin says

    Do you think if I doubled the recipe (because it looks freakin’ amazing) and baked it in a 9X11 pan I could bake it for the same amount of time?

    and oh yeah, pink lady apples!!

    • Unofficial CCK Helper says

      Doubling the recipe works. You might have to tweak the baking time by just a few minutes.

  69. Katherine says

    This sounds delicious! I apsolutely love the honey crisp. those are just the best, hands down. But, I do like the golden delicious as well, as long as they are cold. apples MUST be cold or else i won’t eat them !! HAh! I’m going to try these out tomorrow and maybe try to leave out the cornstarch because our cornstarch expspired in 2007. also i’m going to make them with apple sauce instead oof butter

  70. Shea says

    Rocky mountain chocolate factory has chocolate apples! Cheesecake apple is my fav , grahm crackers with white chocolate over a granny smith! Soo good

  71. Cara says

    These were DELICIOUS. I scraped the pan to enjoy every last bite. I made them to impress my vegan brother in law for Thanksgiving and I’ll sure be making them again! The comments really helped me craft the best ingredient list so I’ll share how I made them: I used half whole wheat flour (not pastry) and half ground almond meal, half earth balance and half coconut oil, half agave and half maple syrup, and granny smith apples. Mine were pretty soft and I didn’t have enough dough left to cover the top entirely but tried my best and they it did turn out to look like crumb topping.

  72. kristen s says

    i’ve made these twice, and they are out of this world! no one would know they were “healthy”. i use coconut oil instead of butter, and coconut sugar with maple syrup. so moist and yummy, better than my traditional apple bars! next time, I’ll probably reduce the amount of coconut sugar, i could easily get away with even less.

  73. AnnaBananaBelle says

    Oh my gosh this looks incredible! i have always been a fan of cooked apple everything. I was wondering though Katie, if you are in fact a vegan? I don’t think i ever saw you call yourself a vegan(but i may have just missed it) but i did notice that i think all of your recipes are vegan or can be.

  74. Rosie says

    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

  75. Alicia says

    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

  76. Lora says

    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

  77. Jessica says

    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! 🙂

  78. Deborah says

    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

  79. Elaina says

    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 🙂

  80. Biz says

    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!

  81. Tiffany says

    Has anyone actually made these? I made them yesterday and they were super dry… I cut the earth balance into the mixture and had crumbles like it specified but it never got gooey…

    • Julie Dove says

      Yes many of the comments above yours are from people who have made them successfully. Probably your issue was due to climate or dryness in the air, which can affect moisture content absorbed by the flour. If it happens again in a recipe you’re making, just use a little extra moisture and you should be good to go.

  82. Sasha Tuel says

    Just made these tonight! They turned out pretty good, but I was VERY confused about putting them in a 4×7 dish? That’s smaller than a typical bread pan, and this recipe makes SO much more than this!
    I used a 9 inch pie dish and this recipe filled it almost perfectly. It could have used more apples, maybe 2 3/4c or even 3c instead of 2c, but that’s just personal preference. As they were, I would definitely make again!

    I’m just really wondering, was using a 4×7 dish to bake these a typo? I couldn’t even find a dish that tiny for sale online.

  83. Kelsey says

    These are so delicious! For the flour, I used 3/4 cup fine almond flour + 3/4 cup gluten free blend, and it worked well! I also reduced the sugar down to 1/3 cup. Definitely plan to make these again 🙂 Thank you for sharing!

  84. Channel says

    This is SO good!! I made it twice. The second time I ran out of maple syrup so I mixed half maple syrup and half pure date syrup and it was even yummier! Also did it with coconut oil. So delicious

  85. tori says

    I have been eyeing this recipe for years now and have never made it because I’m trying to stay away from vegan butter and coconut oil. I’m wondering if it would be worth a shot to try replacing it with cashew butter?

    • CCK Media Team says

      Hmm we are not sure. But if you experiment, please be sure to report back because it sounds like a fun idea!

    • CCK Media Team says

      Hi, sorry we haven’t tried it so don’t know how the flavor would taste. Be sure to report back if you experiment!

    • CCK Media Team says

      The bars are the size of the ones in the photos – for scale, Katie included a picture of them next to an apple. You can defintely cut them into fewer bars if you wish to make them bigger than the ones in the photos.

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