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These Salted Caramel Apple Crisp Bars have layer upon layer of fall flavor! With a shortbread crust, soft apple filling and a sweet and crunchy oatmeal crumble, this dessert will be an instant favorite!
Jump to Recipe
Fall brings so much excitement – tailgating and football games, a new school year, beautiful changing leaves, sweaters and boot weather and yep, you guessed it, pumpkin/apple everything!
I love apple crisp and I love salted caramel, so marrying these two flavors just seemed like a perfect fit. The combination of flavors and textures just works….and it’s a beautiful thing!!! Does the recipe take a little more time due to having three layers? Sure. Is it 100% worth it? Ohhhh yes!!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter – I’ve always baked with salted butter so that’s my preference in these bars.
- All Purpose Flour – You’ll use flour in all three layers.
- Brown Sugar – Dark or light brown sugar is great.
- Apples – You can use whatever apples you like. Read about my favorites below.
- Caramel Sauce – I use jarred caramel sauce for convenience, but you could make your own if preferred.
- Oats – I use quick oats in this recipe.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Salt
What kind of apples are best to use in these apple crisp bars?
My two favorite types of apples to use are Braeburns and Jonagolds – they’re both have a nice balance of sweetness and tartness and are juicy when cooked without getting mushy! Other good options are Granny Smith apples (a little more tart), honeycrisp apples and pink ladies.
How to Make Apple Crisp Bars
You’ll start by making the brown sugar shortbread crust. This is a simple combination of flour, brown sugar, butter and salt. You can mix it by hand with a fork or pastry cutter or use a food processor.
Press the mixture into the bottom of a parchment-lined square pan and bake for 12 minutes. The edges of the shortbread will be a very light golden brown.
Next, mix up the apple layer. Peel and core the apples and cut them into thin slices. You want thin slices so they cook through fairly quickly in the oven. Then add the caramel sauce, salt, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and stir until the apples are evenly coated. Spread the apples over the baked shortbread crust.
Lastly, you’ll make the crumble topping. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle it over the apples. I like to press it down just a bit so the bars stay together a little better after baking.
Bake until the apples are bubbling and the top is golden brown. Let cool before drizzling with caramel and cutting for nicely shaped squares!
Pro Tips!
- Don’t over-mix the shortbread crust as more gluten will develop and produce a tough crust. Mix until the butter is evenly distributed and press into the pan.
- Using an apple peeler/slicer is a game changer for evenly sliced apples!
- If you want to slice the apples ahead of time, keep them in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon juice. This will help keep the apples from turning brown. Simply drain the water off the apples before adding them to the recipe.
- These are especially delicious served warm with a dollop of whipped topping or scoop of ice cream on top!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! In fact, giving them a few hour or a day to set will help all the flavors meld together!
Cover the bars with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and store these bars at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can keep them refrigerated for up to 5 days. If you do refrigerate them, I recommend popping them into the microwave for a few seconds for that freshly baked taste!
I don’t recommend freezing these apple bars. The bottom crust would get soggy upon thawing the bars and the topping would lose its crunchy texture.
Yes! This recipe would work well doubled and pressed into a 9×13-inch baking pan. You may need to add a few minutes to the baking time.
I don’t recommend it. Apple pie filling has too much moisture and will be very difficult to cut into nice bars without them falling apart.
Other Apple Desserts I Love
- Apple Crumble Pie
- Cranberry Apple Crisp
- Apple Dapple Cake
- Caramel Apple Cobbler
- Fireball Whiskey Apple Dumpling
Salted Caramel Apple Crisp Bars
Equipment
- Oven
- 8×8 or 9×9 pan
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1/2 cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Salted Caramel Apple Filling
- 4 cups peeled and thinly sliced apples
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce (from jar)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
Topping
- 6 tablespoons salted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup oatmeal
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- additional caramel if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8×8* square pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl combine the butter, flour, brown sugar and salt. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Core, peel, and thinly slice 4-5 apples (or however many it takes to get 4 cups). Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the caramel, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and flour. Pour over the apples and gently stir to coat the apples with the caramel mixture.
- Spoon the apples over the crust and use your hands to press them down so they're in a nice even layer. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, oatmeal and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the apples and gently press down.
- Bake an additional 35-40 minutes, or until the apples are soft.
- Let cool; drizzle with additional caramel sauce and spinkle with additional salt, if desired. Serve as is, or with a scoop of ice cream!
Notes
Nutrition
Your recipe for these bars sound so wonderful and I plan to make it for my sisters retirement party. Wish I had a pretty little helper like yours. She is precious! Is the new baby here yet? A little boy?
Hi Sheree!! Oh I’m sure these bars will be a hit for the retirement party! And thank you – she is at such a fun age! No baby yet – due early March! And we’re actually going to wait until he or she is born to find out the gender. We did that with McKinley and loved the surprise! 🙂
Hi. These bars sound wonderful! Curious, what size pan do you use for the 2X & 3X recipes? Thanks!
You could double it and put it in a 9×13″ pan, for sure!! 🙂
These bars are amazing! I had a girls get together and made them. Everyone raved about them and wanted the recipe. Huge hit! In fact, every recipe of yours that I’ve tried, I’ve loved! FYI, I love seeing you on Hello Iowa!
Awww so happy to hear that!! It’s always fun with Megan on Hello Iowa – She makes it so comfortable & fun! Thanks for tuning in! 🙂 ~Kelsey
So easy and SO delicious. Perfect for a chilly Sunday dinner dessert!
This recipe looks incredible! Do you think it’s possible to sub maple syrup for the brown sugar? Trying to use less processed sugars.
Hi Kassidey – I do not recommend using maple syrup, due to the difference in consistency.
May I ask if the flour in the recipe is all purpose or self-rising?
All-Purpose flour! 🙂
Can’t wait to try these❣️
Oatmeal or oats?
Dry quick oats!
Sooo yummy!! Definitely a keeper! Thank you for the recipe!
Should the jarred caramel sauce be salted? What brand do you recommend?
I use regular jarred caramel (not salted). I typically use a jar of Smuckers! 🙂
Thank you… that’s what I bought.
Amazing ! Anyone that loves apple crisp this is a must make !!
Do you have a favorite jarred caramel sauce? I want to make these…
OMG! I made these for our Holiday. So so good. I doubled the recipe and did it in a 9×13 Pyrex dish.
Is it possible to get your recipe for salted caramel apple crisp bars in metric
Hi Sandra – I don’t currently convert recipes to metric as the majority of my traffic comes from the US…but perhaps that’s something I’ll look into in the future! 🙂
I LOVE salted caramel and now I LOVE these bars! Perfect autumn treat. I served them warm, with ice cream, a drizzle of caramel and a pinch of sea salt. I can’t wait to have a bowl again tonight!
Will it make a huge difference if I use Oat Flour?
Hi Courtney – I’ve never tried making these with oat flour, though I’m guessing it should work okay? Please let me know if you do give it a try! ~Kelsey
Could you leave out oats cant have them