Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars

These apple crisp bars start with a buttery shortbread crust and are topped with warm spiced apples, a sweet crumble, and a drizzle of homemade caramel. They taste like apple pie bars but are cut into easy squares that are just right for sharing. You'll love how simple they are to make, whether you need a classic treat for fall baking or a holiday dessert for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Pin this recipe now so you'll have it handy for all your favorite apple dessert recipes.
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Why are these the best apple crisp bars

These are the perfect apple pie bars for any family gathering! They're always a huge hit at my family's Thanksgiving dinner because they're sweet, hand-held, and perfectly soft and chewy.

These apple squares are easy to make. There are a few steps to make a batch of this recipe, but the work is easy. Mix up the shortbread dough and bake it. Toss the apples with sugar and cinnamon and layer them on top of the cooling shortbread. Mix up the crumb topping and sprinkle that over the apples. Bake the whole thing, whip up the homemade caramel sauce while the bars bake, and you're all set!

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The ingredients for this easy recipe are very common. You probably have most of the simple ingredients already in your pantry, and the remaining couple are available in every grocery store I've ever visited. There is one specialty ingredient, vanilla bean paste, but it is available on Amazon, and there is an easy substitution.

These apple crisp bars taste amazing! You haven't lived until you've eaten a pie bar. It's like an apple crisp but better because you don't need a fork to eat it!

You can cut these apple bars to whatever size you want!  If you're serving all adults, cut them bigger. If you're serving them among a lot of other desserts or for kids, cut them smaller. This simple apple dessert captures all the flavors of a whole apple crisp in a hand-held bite, and they're perfect for sharing.

These apple shortbread bars are soft and chewy. The cooled cookies have the perfect texture combination: a soft shortbread cookie, topped with layers of sweet, tender apples, crispy crumb topping, and a rich caramel sauce on top.

What you'll need to make apple pie bars

Equipment

• 9x9 casserole dish - Any square baking dish will be fine. Any stoneware, glass, or metal baking dish will be fine.
• Parchment paper - I always use parchment paper when I'm baking, to make clean up easier. In this case, you really need the parchment because it helps the apple pie bars not to stick and gives you an easy way to lift them out of the baking dish.
• Small saucepan - You need a small, sturdy pot to cook the homemade caramel sauce in. A 1-quart pan is plenty. A 2-quart pan might be okay if you watch it very carefully and never stop stirring, but anything larger will be too big.
• Apple peeler corer slicer - I love my apple peeler/corer/slicer from the Pampered Chef. I don't think they make them anymore, but it's totally worth the investment and one of the few kitchen tools I replaced after our fire. If you don't have and don't want to get one of these amazing gadgets, you should peel, core, and slice the apples with a paring knife (and vegetable peeler, if you have one of those).
• Citrus juicer - I use a lot of fresh lemon and fresh lime juice, so my citrus press is on heavy rotation. If you don't have a citrus press and don't want to get one, you can squeeze your lemon with a fork. Look on YouTube for "how to juice a lemon with a fork" and you'll find some good instructions. Or, as a last resort, squeeze it with your hand, but you may want to use both halves if you do that because you won't get all the juice out.

Ingredients

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements, detailed instructions, and nutritional information.

I broke the ingredients down in the recipe card at the bottom of the page, so that you can see exactly what you need for each part of the apple crisp bars. The sections are homemade caramel sauce, shortbread crust, apple filling, and apple crisp topping. In this section, I have included the totals that you will need for the entire recipe, as I think that will be helpful for some readers.

• 1¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter - This is a little less than 3 sticks. The first stick will be melted in a saucepan. The second stick will need to be melted before adding it to the recipe. The third partial stick will need to be very soft but not melted. (But if it melts, it's not the end of the world, see instructions below.) If all you have is salted butter, go ahead and use it, but go a smidge lighter on the salt in the rest of the recipe.
• 1½ cups light brown sugar - Dark brown sugar will work here, but it will make your caramel sauce look more like chocolate sauce.
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar - This goes into the shortbread crust and also gets sprinkled on the apple filling.
• 1 ½ cups plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour - You need flour to make shortbread. If you are gluten-free, it's okay to use a cup-for-cup gluten-free baking mix.
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon - You can substitute apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice for the plain cinnamon.
• 1 pinch sea salt - Depending on how salty you want your salted caramel to be, you may use more. If you don't want to buy sea salt just for this one little piece of the recipe, you can use table salt instead.
• ¾ teaspoon plain table salt - Salt balances out the sweetness in baked goods and is necessary in the recipe.
• ½ cup heavy cream - You can use evaporated milk or a plant-based milk if you need to. If you use an alternative to heavy cream, your caramel sauce will be thinner and runnier.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste - I love vanilla bean paste because it's made from concentrated vanilla extract with crushed vanilla beans mixed in. It has a richer and more noticeable vanilla flavor. If you don't want to get vanilla bean paste, you can use an equal amount of pure vanilla extract.
• 3 large Granny Smith apples - These should be peeled, cored, and sliced ¼-inch thick. I think Granny Smith apples are the best apples here because they are sweet-tart apples and hold up well to cooking. If you use an eating apple rather than a baking apple, they will turn to mush. The apple pie bars will still taste good, but you won't be able to see or feel the apples. Using a baking apple means that the apple flesh will be resilient in the heat and will still look like apple slices when the bars have cooked. Honeycrisp apples, Pink Lady, Fuji, Gala, or Braeburn apples would also be really good here, as would pears.
• ½ large lemon - All you need here is the juice of the lemon, but please for the sake of all that is holy, do not use lemon juice from a container. Buy a fresh lemon (they cost less than a dollar) and squeeze it yourself. You will totally taste the difference.
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How to make apple shortbread bars

These delicious apple crisp bars have A LOT of steps, but don't be intimidated. Every step is simple enough for a child or beginner cook. Follow the steps, and you'll be fine.

1. Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving overhang on all sides. The easiest way to do this is to tear two long pieces and overlap them in the middle. So one piece goes top to bottom with overhang on the top and bottom. The second piece goes right to left with overhang on the right and left. Set aside.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

1. Combine the brown sugar, heavy cream, butter, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook while whisking constantly and gently for 5-7 minutes, until thickened. Make sure you scrape the bottom, sides, and corners of the pan often to avoid burning the cream.
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2. Add the vanilla bean paste and cook for another minute or two to thicken further. The sauce will thicken significantly as it cools, and if you overcook it, it will turn out almost solid, and you will need to reheat it to drizzle over your apple squares. (This still tastes amazing, so don't worry if this happens.)
3. Turn off the heat and allow the caramel sauce to cool while preparing the rest of the recipe. If you have leftover caramel, store it in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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Shortbread Crust

1. Whisk the melted butter, white sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt together in a medium bowl.
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2. Add the flour to the butter mixture and stir until everything is combined.
3. Press the shortbread dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
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4. Bake the bottom crust for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven to cool. Set aside.
5. Turn the oven up to 350ºF.

Apple Filling

1. In a large bowl, combine the white sugar, flour, cinnamon, and fresh lemon juice. Whisk together.
2. Add the sliced apples to the mixture and stir until the apples are evenly coated. 
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3. Spread apples in an even layer on top of the cooling shortbread crust.Pin
   

Apple Crisp Streusel Topping

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. 
2. Slowly add the very soft butter to the flour mixture in the bowl while stirring the crumbs with a fork. Do not over-mix. You want coarse crumbs. You do not want dough, but if you end up with dough, spread it over the apples and bake it anyway because it will still taste great.
3. Sprinkle crumbles evenly over the apples.
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Finishing the Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars

1. Bake finished apple crisp bars at 350ºF for 30-35 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown. Let cool to room temperature to set.
2. Once the bars are cooled, drizzle with homemade caramel sauce (the more the better in my opinion), cut into squares, and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or apple pie ice cream.
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Variations and substitutions

You can make these bars with fresh apples, pears, or peaches or canned apple pie filling (or any flavor of canned pie filling).

You can sprinkle the fruit with chopped pecans or walnuts for a little crunch, or mix the nuts into the streusel topping.

You can make these bars gluten-free by using a cup-for-cup gluten-free baking mix in the shortbread dough and the crumble topping.

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You can make these bars dairy-free by using a plant-based milk and vegan butter, coconut oil, or coconut cream. Diary-free caramel takes a lot longer to cook and also will not get as thick or as rich as caramel made with dairy.

You can use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice in place of plain cinnamon.

Storing leftovers

Leftover apple crisp bars can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Cover with plastic wrap or foil.

Apple crisp bars will keep a little longer, up to a week, if stored in the refrigerator, but the crisp topping will get a little soggy, and the shortbread base may get a little stale. Again, cover with plastic wrap or foil or place individual bars in a zippered plastic bag.

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You can also freeze apple crisp bars. Wrap bars individually in plastic wrap or foil, then place all the bars in an airtight freezer container or a plastic freezer bag. They will be fresh for up to 2 months. You can thaw right on the counter.

You most likely will not use all the caramel sauce. Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.

If you would like to make caramel candy with the leftover sauce, follow these instructions:

1. Prepare a small square or rectangular baking dish by lining it on all sides with parchment paper. (See the instructions in the recipe for doing this.)
2. Continue cooking the caramel sauce in the saucepan for another 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly. It will still be liquid at this point because it's hot.
3. When the caramel has thickened significantly, pour it into the prepared baking dish.
4. Let the caramel sit until it's fully cooled, likely 2 hours or maybe more, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
5. Lift the caramel out of the dish using the parchment paper.
6. Cut the caramel into squares and serve. If it's still a little squishy, store it in an airtight container in the fridge and serve it chilled. That will harden it right up.

Try these other delicious apple recipes:

• Super Stuffed Baked Apples
• Apple Ring Pancakes
• Baked Apple Pecan Pancakes
• The Best Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake
• Nana's Best Classic Apple Cake Recipe
• Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars
• Baked Apple Pecan Pancakes
• Apple Strudel with Puff Pastry
• Apple Pie Ice Cream
• Pampered Chef Apple Crisp with Cake Mix - This is my favorite apple crisp, but the others below are also tasty.
• Easy Apple Crisp with Oats
• Crunchy Apple Crisp without Oats
• Apple Crisp with Oats & Graham Crackers
• Wormy Apple Snack - These are super cute snacks that kids LOVE!
• Copycat Cracker Barrel Fried Apples
• How to Make Applesauce in the CrockPot
• Homemade Apple Butter on the Stove or in the CrockPot
• Apple Taste Test Activity: An Elementary Math & Science Lesson

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