Description
These Salted Caramel Apple Bars are a delightful fall dessert featuring a buttery shortbread crust, spiced apple filling, and a generous drizzle of salted caramel. They’re perfect for gatherings or as a sweet treat to enjoy at home.
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
3–4 medium apples (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, and diced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup store-bought or homemade caramel sauce
1 tsp flaky sea salt (like Maldon)
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides for easy removal.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and salt. Add the cold, cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers to work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse, wet sand with some pea-sized lumps.
3. Set aside 1½ cups of this mixture for the crumble topping. Press the remaining mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes until it’s just starting to turn golden.
4. While the crust par-bakes, prepare the apple filling. Toss the diced apples with lemon juice. Add the flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until every piece of apple is coated.
5. Once the crust is out of the oven, spread the apple mixture evenly over the hot crust. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the apples. Sprinkle the reserved crumble topping over everything.
6. Bake for 35–45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbly around the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the flaky sea salt. Let the pan cool completely on a wire rack before slicing into bars.
Notes
Once completely cool, use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Slice into squares and serve.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer storage, refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
These bars are delicious on their own or served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50–60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 290 kcal per bar
- Sugar: 25 g per bar
- Sodium: 80 mg per bar
- Fat: 15 g per bar
- Saturated Fat: 9 g per bar
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g per bar
- Trans Fat: 0 g per bar
- Carbohydrates: 38 g per bar
- Fiber: 2 g per bar
- Protein: 2 g per bar
- Cholesterol: 35 mg per bar