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A pile of golden salted caramel apple pie bars, one cut open to show the apple filling and gooey caramel, with blurred fresh apples in the background.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

These delightful Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars combine a buttery crumble crust and topping with a sweet and tart apple filling, all drizzled with luscious salted caramel. Perfect for a crowd, they offer all the comforting flavors of apple pie in an easy-to-serve bar form.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12 bars
Course: Baking, Bars, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 350
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Crust and Crumble Topping
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 0.5 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.5 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 0.5 teaspoon salt
  • 0.75 cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
For the Apple Filling
  • 4 medium apples such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, peeled, cored, and diced
  • 0.25 cup granulated sugar for filling
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 0.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Caramel Layer
  • 0.5 cup store-bought salted caramel sauce

Method
 

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and salt for the crust and crumble topping.
  3. Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender or your fingertips to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  4. Press about two-thirds of the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan to form the crust.
  5. In a separate medium bowl, combine the diced apples, ¼ cup granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss gently until the apples are evenly coated.
  6. Spread the apple mixture evenly over the pressed crust in the baking pan.
  7. Drizzle the salted caramel sauce generously over the apple layer.
  8. Crumble the remaining one-third of the flour mixture evenly over the apples and caramel.
  9. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbly and tender.
  10. Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before lifting them out by the parchment paper and cutting them into squares. This ensures they set properly and are easier to cut.

Notes

For best results and clean slices, ensure the bars are completely cooled before cutting. Using a mix of sweet and tart apples, like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp, enhances the flavor profile.