These Apple Pie Crumble Bars are rich and buttery, big on Autumn flavours, and incredibly delicious. They are a cross between a classic apple pie and an apple crumble, but a lots easier to pack and enjoy on the go too. The apple filling has a wonderful touch of cinnamon and brown sugar, while the crumble is beautifully golden and indulgent.
With Autumn come crispy cozy days that make us crave richer, more decadent dishes to warm us up inside and out. And apples are one of the most popular fruit of the season, so versatile, perfect in both sweet and savory dishes.
The classic apple pie is always a must-bake at this time of the year, and my apple crumble with oats makes its way to the table rather often. Now, cross these 2 old-fashioned apple desserts, and you get some delicious apple pie crumble bars to lick your fingers clean.
They are beautifully rich and buttery and almost melting in your mouth, with a decadent apple and cinnamon filling that screams perfection. And bonus point, they are ridiculously easy to make, even a complete beginner in the kitchen could nail them.
And if you fancy a nice walk on a cold Autumn's day, grab a flask of homemade hot chocolate and a few apple crumble bars, and you are good to go. It really can't get any better than that!
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Ingredients used to make the apple pie filling
- apples - I opted for cooking apples, as they make the best pie filling, they cook really well and have a slight tart taste that works wonderfully well with the cinnamon and sugar
- light brown sugar - it can be swapped for granulated or dark brown sugar, although the colour of the filling will change depending on the type of sugar used
- cinnamon - you really can't make an apple dessert without it!
How to make the apple pie filling
- wash, peel and grate the apples
- add them to a pan together with the cinnamon and light brown sugar, and mix well
- set the pan over a medium heat, and let it simmer, stirring occasionally until all the apple juice released by the apples has been absorbed
- remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool down
Ingredients used for the crumble
- flour - just plain regular flour for a crumble topping
- sugar - I used granulated sugar, I find that it makes a better crumble than the brown sugar
- butter - melted, it makes the topping chewy and golden
- oats - regular porridge oats work just fine
How to make the apple pie crumble bars
- in a mixing bowl, sift in the flour, add the sugar, and mix to combine
- add the oats, and mix well
- pour over the melted butter, and use a spatula to combine all the ingredients together into a sticky crumbly dough
- line a square baking tray ( mine is 20 cm / 8 inches in diameter) with non-stick parchment paper
- transfer half of the mixture to the tray, and use a spatula or spoon to press down well to have a firm base
- cover the base with the cooled apple pie filling, then crumble the rest of the flour mixture over the top of the filling
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit) for 50 minutes until golden
- remove the tray from the oven, and leave it to cool down slight in the tray, slice it, then leave to cool down completely
Expert tips
Traditionally crumble toppings are made with cold butter cut into cubes, then rubbed together with the flour to get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. I find that method less effective than using melted butter.
The melted butter not only makes the mixture crumble a lot better, but it also helps achieve a golden topping that is way richer and tastier. Plus, with the crumble bars, it makes the bars keep their shape a lot better, rather than crumble to nothing.
It will be virtually impossible to slice the crumble into squares without a firmer top and bottom mixture, but this way it works really well, I used the same method for my Strawberry Crumble Bars is excellent results.
Recipe FAQs
Once the crumble comes out of the oven, it will be really hard to slice it straight away. Leave it to cool down slightly, then slice it, then alow it to cool down completely in the baking tray. Once the buttery crumble hardens, you will have perfect squares that keep their shape.
Absolutely! While the cooking apples have a lovely tartness to them that I personally prefer, regular apples can be used too - depending on their size, you might need to use more regular apples, as the cooking ones tend to be on the bigger side.
What to serve with these apple pie squares
Nothing like some good old custard to enjoy a good crumble, be it traditional or crumble bars. My homemade custard is utterly delicious, or you could go for a mango custard which is really nice.
Or, you could add a good scoop of ice cream, my go-to would be a vanilla ice cream, but you could go for other ice creams too, I have lots to choose from in my No-Churn Ice Cream Recipes post.
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Apple Pie Crumble Bars
Ingredients
For the apple pie filling
- 4 cooking apples
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoon light brown sugar
For the crumble
- 200 g plain flour ( 1 ½ cups)
- 200 g melted butter ( ¾ cup)
- 150 g granulated sugar ( ¾ cup)
- 75 g oats ( 1 cup)
Instructions
- To make the pie filling, wash, peel and grate the apples.
- Add them to a pan together with the cinnamon and light brown sugar.
- Give everything a good mix, and cook the apples on a medium heat until all the apple juice released has been absorbed.
- Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
- To make the crumble, sift the flour in a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and oats, and mix well.
- Pour over the melted butter, and use a spatula to combine everything into a sticky crumbly mixture.
- Line a square baking tray with non-stick parchment paper ( my tray is 20 cm /8 iches in diameter).
- Transfer half of the mixture to the pan, and use a spatula or spoon to press it down well to have a firm base.
- Top it with the apple filling, then scatter the remaining crumble mixture over the apples.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit) for 50 minutes until golden.
- Remove the tray from the oven, allow it to cool slightly, then slice the crumble into squares.
- Allow the squares to cool down completely before transfering them from the tray.
Video
Notes
- Traditionally crumble toppings are made with cold butter cut into cubes, then rubbed together with the flour to get a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. I find that method less effective than using melted butter.
- The melted butter not only makes the mixture crumble a lot better, but it also helps achieve a golden topping that is way richer and tastier. Plus, with the crumble bars, it makes the bars keep their shape a lot better, rather than crumble to nothing.
- It will be virtually impossible to slice the crumble into squares without a firmer top and bottom mixture, but this way it works really well.
Nutrition
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