Happy Monday! I don't know about you, but the cooler mornings this past week have got me all excited for Fall baking!!! These salted caramel apple bars were the perfect Fall treat to start with! I used a recipe from Sally's Baking Addition which uses a simple shortbread crust, seasoned apple slices and an amazing crumble top. Our salted caramel drizzle gives these bars the buttery, salty taste it needs to balance the sweet baked apples, making them the perfect Fall bite of yumminess!!! I love that they are served cold, although I have to admit, it was hard not to eat a slice straight out of the oven! I hope you give these bars a try, you won't be disappointed!
Ingredients:
For the Shortbread Crust:
- 1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 c flour
For the Apple Filling:
- 2 large apples, thinly sliced (about 1/4") I used one large granny smith apple and two small gala apples.
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground
For the Crumble Topping:
- 1/4 c old fashioned-oats
- 1/3 c brown sugar (light or dark is fine)
- 1/4 c flour
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 c unsalted butter, cold and diced
- Caramel Kitchen salted caramel sauce
Directions:
For the Shortbread Crust:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees
- Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving enough to hang over all sides.
- Add all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour in the vanilla and melted butter and mix until the crust comes together in a ball of dough.
- Evenly press the dough into the bottom of the lined pan, making sure to get into the corners.
- Bake for 15 minutes as you prepare the apple filling and crumb topping.
For the Apple Filling:
- Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine the apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Toss until all of the apples are evenly coated.
- Evenly spread the apples over the top of the shortbread crust.
For the Crumble Topping:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Add the diced butter and cut in using a pastry blender, two forks (or your hands, like I did)!
- Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of the apples and return to oven to bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool until it's room temperature.
- Transfer the pan to the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, lift from the pan and cut into bars.
- Drizzle salted caramel sauce over the top of each bar and enjoy!
