Made with a shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, streusel topping, and homemade salted caramel, these apple pie bars have all the flavors of classic apple pie in an easy-to-serve bar dessert.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since updated it with new photos and additional success tips. Based on reader feedback, I also increased the flour in the crust to help it hold its shape, extended the baking time, and adjusted the instructions so you make and refrigerate the streusel first, which helps it maintain its crumbly texture as it bakes.
Without a doubt, apple pie is my favorite dessert. I love the combination of sweet-tart spiced apples and buttery, flaky pie crust. But when I’m craving those classic flavors without making an entire pie, I turn to today’s dessert.
These salted caramel apple pie bars are an easier, more approachable version of salted caramel apple pie. There’s no traditional pie crust to prepare, but you still get plenty of tender spiced apples, buttery crust, and irresistible salted caramel in every bite.
That’s why I’ve created bar versions of several popular pies on my site, including pumpkin pie bars, cherry pie bars, and blueberry pie bars. You get all the familiar flavors of a homemade pie in an easier-to-make (and easier-to-serve) dessert.
3 Layers to Love
These apple pie bars have a buttery shortbread crust, tender cinnamon-spiced apples, and a crisp brown sugar oat streusel with a drizzle of salty-sweet caramel. They taste like apple pie, but with a softer, more crumbly bar-cookie texture.
- Shortbread Crust: The buttery shortbread crust is much easier to make than a traditional pie crust. It’s simply perfect as the base layer for all your favorite bar desserts. I actually use the same shortbread crust in my recipe for raspberry streusel bars and double the recipe for my lemon bars. It comes together quickly—no waiting for pie dough to chill.
- Apple Pie Filling: No canned filling here. You only need 5 ingredients to make your own apple pie filling, and it tastes incredible!
- Streusel Topping: Instead of a top layer of pie crust like you see on traditional apple pies, we’re topping these apple pie bars with streusel. It’s a scaled-up version of the topping on our caramel apple cheesecake pie.
Here is everything you’ll need:
Overview: How to Make Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
There are just a few steps before you have a delicious fall dessert on your hands!
Make the streusel topping first. I like to make the streusel topping first so it can chill in the refrigerator while I prepare the crust and filling. Keeping the butter cold helps the streusel hold its shape in the oven instead of melting into the bars. I do the same when making chocolate marble pumpkin bread.
The mixture will be crumbly and coarse:
Make the shortbread crust. Melted butter makes the crust especially easy to prepare and press into the pan. I also find that it produces a wonderfully soft yet sturdy base, which is ideal to support all those heavy apples!
An 8-inch square baking pan works best for these bars. Be sure to line it with parchment paper so you can easily lift the entire batch from the pan before slicing. If you need a recommendation, I use and love this baking pan and this baking pan (pictured).
As the crust pre-bakes, prep the apple pie filling. No need to pre-cook the filling on the stove; you can layer it right on top of the warm crust.
Peel the apples and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Toss with flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg:
What Are the Best Apples for Apple Pie Bars?
Use a firm apple that holds its shape when cooked. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, or a combination all work well. If you’re interested in learning more, see my guide to the best apples for baking.
Layer the apple pie filling evenly on top of the crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the apples, and then bake.
Chilling is important: Allow the bars to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then transfer the bars to the refrigerator. For the cleanest slices, refrigerate the bars for at least 2 hours.
Cut into bars and drizzle with salted caramel sauce. I like to add a little sprinkle of sea salt flakes on top, too, but that’s completely optional.
Salted Caramel Topping
A generous drizzle of salted caramel takes these incredible apple pie bars to a whole new level. Have you ever made salted caramel before? You must. Besides topping these apple pie bars, it’s delicious over ice cream or pancakes, served with apple slices, and so much more. Find 50 ways to eat salted caramel here.
Absolutely. Homemade salted caramel is fantastic, but your favorite store-bought caramel sauce works well here, too. Add the caramel right before or after cutting into bars.
Yes! The recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. Pre-bake the crust for 18 minutes, then extend the bake time to 45–55 minutes.
You can freeze the bars for up to 3 months. See freezing instructions in the recipe Notes section below.
One bite of these sweet and slightly salty apple pie bars and you’ll wonder why you haven’t made them sooner. They are a forever favorite!
Here is the salted caramel sauce recipe.
Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made with a shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, streusel topping, and homemade salted caramel, these apple pie bars have all the flavors of classic apple pie in an easy-to-serve bar dessert.
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1/2 cup (43g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Shortbread Crust
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon (133g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Apple Filling
- 2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2.5 cups or 315g; 1/4-inch-thick slices)
- 2 Tablespoons (16g) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Garnish
- homemade salted caramel or store-bought caramel sauce
- optional: flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- Make the streusel first: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (or even with your hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place in the refrigerator until step 6.
- Make the crust: In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the flour and mix until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. While the crust bakes, prepare the filling.
- Make the apple filling: In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring until all of the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.
- After you remove the crust from the oven, increase the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C).
- Pour the apple filling on top of the warm crust and spread/press into an even layer. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit. Sprinkle the cold streusel evenly on top.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.
- Lift the bars out of the pan by gripping the parchment paper overhang; transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares. Drizzle caramel sauce on top and sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if using.
- These apple pie bars can be enjoyed warm, cold, or at room temperature. Store covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: You can freeze the bars (without the caramel sauce drizzle) for up to 3 months. Layer them in an airtight freezer-safe container or bag with parchment paper between the layers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm them up to your liking and drizzle with salted caramel sauce to serve.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Apple Peeler | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Pastry Blender
- Apples: I like to use two different kinds of apples for the best texture and depth of flavor. I typically use one tart apple variety such as Granny Smith, and one sweet apple variety such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp.
- Larger Batch: Recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. Pre-bake the crust for 18 minutes (step 3), then extend the bake time to 45–55 minutes.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can this recipe be doubled and made in a 9 x 13 pan?
Hi Michelle, absolutely. Pre-bake the crust for 18 minutes, then extend the bake time in step 5 to about 45-55 minutes.
Can you skip the oats in the streusel? I don’t like the taste and texture. Do you need them to make it dense? If so, can you taste them?
Hi Ellen! You can leave them out if desired.
Can you use a refrigerated pie crust and would you still have to cook before filling?
Hi Ann, I would still pre-bake it if using a regular pastry pie crust.
These turned out amazing even if I can’t figure out the streusel texture! Also loved how much caramel it made because I ended up making them two weekends in a row for guests and didn’t need to make more caramel. Vanilla ice cream is the perfect side with these and having tried them both cold and warm, cold is preferred for the crust. I am obsessed with this caramel and will make it again just because it’s easy and delish and versatile (perhaps with your pumpkin French toast casserole?)
Very easy and delicious. I made these for my students and colleagues. Everybody loved them..
Very good recipe. These were a nice change from our usual apple crisp and apple pie desserts. I used half the amount of sugar in the apple mixture. I was afraid that the salted caramel would put the sweetness over the top but it really balanced out the sugars in each layer and made the squares perfect.
Great bars but my crust is very hard. Maybe try without first bake? What do you think?
Very good with the caramel on top.
Hi B, we wouldn’t eliminate the first bake completely, but you could try reducing it by just a few minutes next time. Glad you enjoyed them!
My crust was also quite hard. Maybe I over baked it some, but it softened up after leaving it on the counter for a number of hours (had to leave to do an errand). I think a little of the juice from the apples must have “sunk into” the crust because it was softer than my first bite.
I am going to rate these bars 5* although I did not make the caramel topping. I did not make the caramel topping because I thought they were plenty sweet without it. I will therefore cut down on the sugar in the filling & strudel a very little. A couple of things I will do the next time I make these is either use Cortland apples which I always use when I bake anything calling for apples, or use a Granny Smith along with a Honey Crisp or a Pink Lady. I used 1 of each of those this time & found the bars a little too sweet for my taste….although they were delicious! The recipe says to prepare the filling & strudel as the crust bakes. However I found it took me quite a bit longer to prepare the filling & strudel than it took the 15 minutes to bake the crust, even though I had the dry ingredients measured out to use when called for. Using the Cortland apples I find I don’t have to think about them turning a slight yellowish/brownish color because they stay white, therefore they can be peeled, at least, before the crust bakes. The strudel can be made first then put in the refrigerator until called for. With all this said, these were so good that I could have eaten all the bars myself. ; )
These were a huge hit with my family and co-workers. I make apple crisp often and this was a nice way to make it in an individual portions rather then just scooping it out. I doubled the recipe and followed the instructions and it turned out great. I warmed them up with vanilla icecream and froze the leftovers
This recipe was delicious!!! Loved by everyone, and it was so easy to make. I definitely recommend her homemade salted caramel….amazing!
This sounds delicious. When doubling this, would you use a 13×9 pan? Would you change any of the baking times?
Hi Sue, you can certainly double it in a 9×13 inch pan – see recipe notes for details. Enjoy!
Absolutely delicious! I doubled it, and it still turned out great. I did put some brown sugar in the filling as well as white even though the recipe only calls for white. May try these with pecans and cranberries around Christmas time.
Can you store these not in the fridge?
Hi Anna, we’re so glad you enjoyed these bars! It’s best to store the bars in the refrigerator. If you prefer to eat them at room temperature, you can take one out and let it sit at room temperature for a bit before enjoying.
Sally, you never fail to make me look like a superstar. Another 5 ⭐️ recipe! Super easy to make. I did the caramel on the weekend and put the rest of it together in about an hour. Fantastic!! Thank you so much, as always!!!
I made this recipe exactly as written, including the salted caramel. It turned out great! Very delicious. I had never made caramel before, so I was a little nervous about it, but it turned out perfectly. Very happy with this receipt
I will be using your salted caramel for this. Approximately how much of it would you drizzle?
Hi Sarah, the salted caramel recipe yields a cup—you don’t need all of it, but drizzle however much you desire! Hope you love the bars.
There’s a lot to like about this recipe but I am disappointed that the streusel doesn’t seem to get brown and crisp. Not sure what went wrong…
These bars are so DELICIOUS!!! That caramel sauce took it over the top. I highly recommend making her caramel sauce.
So for the record, I would typically classify myself as an anti-pie person. Fruit in dessert is just never my go-to. But we have some apple trees in my backyard that are exploding right now and I needed something to do with them, so I turned to my favorite baking goddess and guys – MY GOD. I am converted. This recipe is amazing. So, so good. Highly recommend making these!!! (we used gala apples and they were a good fit). Thank you, Sally!!!!
Delicious recipe! Do these bars need to be refrigerated after preparing?
Hi Sara, yes: The bars will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Another delicious and reliable recipe! I used a 9×13 pan and 4x the recipe for the crust. It turned out perfectly with a thick crust as I wanted. I will certainly use this recipe again come holiday season. Thank you! Sallys Baking Addiction never fails to deliver excellent results and trustworthy methods.
I made these the other day and they were delicious, I cooked the crust a bit longer than recommended and it worked out perfectly, my oven probably cooks a bit fast, but they turned out wonderful! It’s like eating a little hand apple pie….I had some caramel sauce and drizzled it over them and they were even better than I would have thought. These are a keeper, I even noticed that I had 2 copies of this recipe in my recipe binder, so I know I was planning on making these eventually. I’m happy I did.
I am generally a buttercream fiend. If it’s there, it is my favorite. But these…THESE are my new favorite, I think. The caramel was ridiculously simple, as was the rest of the construction. I am fortunate to have northern California Gravenstein apples at my disposal, and they were a perfect sweet/tart balance. This was seriously the best apple dessert I have made, and maybe my new favorite dessert ever. Thank you for the easy but extravagantly delicious recipe!
We’re thrilled this was such a hit for you!
My mother in law and sister in law are both amazing bakers, and they absolutely loved these (even though I never did add the caramel on top). Huge hit with our household!
OMG – absolutely delicious and easy to make.
Sally, the ingredients says 2 large apples for the filling. In the notes you say you should get 3-4 cups from those 2 apples, is this correct?
Hi Bruce! Yes, that’s correct. If your apples are smaller, you’ll need more.
Yummy ! I especially love the crust
Looking forward to making these! Do they freeze well?
Hi Cindy, sure do! See recipe Notes for freezing details.
Can’t wait to make this for our Parish BBQ Bash. My friend said it’s the best dessert she has ever made.
Have you ever scaled this to use half sheet pans? Any suggestions?
Love this recipe so much and have even switch out fruit fillings for berries which was a hit
How would you adjust cooking time and temp if I put split it into cupcake tins instead of as a large bar?
Hi CB! You should be able to bake them individually in a muffin pan with cupcake liners, but we haven’t tested it. We’re unsure of the bake time. Let us know how it goes!
I loved this recipe! I made a short video on youtube! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xE7dnO2Km1w
Easy to put together with all the best attributes of apple pie. I would happily eat them without the caramel sauce but delicious with it too. The salt is key to keeping it from reading as too sweet.