Salted Caramel Apple Bars

If you read my recent post for Crunchy Peach Coffee Cake, you know I was excited to harvest fresh, delicious peaches from my peach tree for the first time a few months ago. Well, I'm happy to report that my apple tree produced a bounty of tasty Golden Delicious apples for the first time this year, too!

I'm not a fan of raw, tart apples, so of course I had to find a recipe with enough sugar to disguise the sourness. While this recipe doesn't have a ton of sugar in the bars themselves, the salted caramel sauce on top is plenty sweet enough to make these bars the most decadent apple dessert I've ever made. They were so good, I had two bars before they were even cool! 

Don't be too intimidated by the lengthy directions. These bars are fairly quick and easy to make, and totally worth the effort!

Salted Caramel Apple Bars

Prep time 30 min Bake time 45 min

Serves 12

Shortbread Crust

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Apple Filling

3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (1/4 inch)

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup granulated sugar

6 Tbs salted butter, room temperature, cut up into 6 pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving some overhang on all sides. Set aside.

Make the crust: Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling and streusel.

Make the apple filling: Combine the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until all of the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.

Make the streusel: Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F. Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit. Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator till set, about 2 hours.

Make the caramel sauce: Melt granulated sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a high-heat resistant rubber spatula or wooden spoon until liquid. Be careful not to burn.

Once sugar is completely melted, immediately add the butter. The caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added.

Stir the butter into the caramel until it is completely melted, about 2 minutes. (If you notice the butter separating or if the sugar clumps up, remove from heat and vigorously whisk to combine it again.)

Very slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of heavy cream while stirring. The mixture will rapidly bubble when added. Allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of salt. Allow to slightly cool down before using.

Once bars are cool and set, lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into 12 pieces. Drizzle some salted caramel sauce on top of each. I only used about half the sauce and it was plenty.

These apple pie bars can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature, or even cold. Store bars and leftover caramel sauce in the fridge.