This post contains affiliate links.
Apple pie is a classic dessert and a perfect use of those tasty fall apples. However, I’m not always up for rolling out pie dough, so enter in these apple pie bars!
No need for rolling dough here. Two-thirds of the dough just gets pressed into the pan and the other one-third is sprinkled over the apple filling. So much easier than chilling and rolling dough. The filling is also easy peasy. The hardest part is cutting up those 4 apples!
You can also adjust the thickness of these bars. For thicker bars, use a 9 x 9 pan. For thinner bars those those in the photo, use a 9 x 13 pan. This bars are loved by all no matter which sized pan you use!
If you want, you can just forget the glaze and serve this warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Otherwise, allow them to cool and coat the top in the sweet creamy glaze!
Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup butter, softened (You need the real deal here)
- 1 egg, beaten
- Filling:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 cups sliced apples (I used 4 gala apples)
- Glaze:
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 3 Tbsp cream
- splash of milk if needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- For the crust: add the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder to a bowl and mix. Then add in butter and cut in with a pastry blender until you have pea sized crumbs.
- Mix in the beaten egg until combined.
- Spray a 9 x 9 or 9 x 13 inch pan (depending on the thickness you want) with non-stick cooking spray. Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into the bottom of the dish, set aside the remaining crust mixture.
- In a bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients together until well combined. Spread filling mixture over the pressed crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 crust mixture over the apples.
- Bake for 40 minutes for the 9 x 13 pan or 50 minutes for the 9 x 9 pan. Then allow to cool.
- Once cool, combine the the glaze ingredients together in a bowl. If needed add a splash of milk to thin if too thick. Pipe frosting over the cooled bars to make a nice drizzle. Allow frosting to set and serve. Makes 9 – 12 bars.
Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites.
