Apple Crisp meets apple pie to form these delicious Apple Crisp Bars. They are a simple apple dessert made with a shortbread cookie crust, sweet apple filling, and a buttery crumble topping. 

A Perfect Mash-Up

A little bit like an apple pie, a little bit like an apple crisp, these Apple Crisp Bars are the best or two desserts.

From the buttery shortbread crust to the oat crumble to the sweet, spiced apple filling, these bars are a delicious way to enjoy the flavors of apple crisp with an oatmeal crumble in bar form.

There is no rolling, no chilling for this crust either, which makes these bars much easier to make than say a Dutch Apple Pie.

They are a perfect way to enjoy crisp, fall apples in dessert form.

Key Ingredients

• Crust: The shortbread crust is made with flour, butter, a bit of sugar. It comes together easily and forms a delicious, buttery base to these bars.
• Apple Filling: Apples, spices, sugar, and flour are tossed together to form a filling that is a lot like a classic apple pie filling. As for the apples, I prefer to use Granny Smith apples in the filling of these apple bars. Their tartness pairs perfectly with the sugar to not be overly sweet. But any firm apple such as Gala, Honeycrisp, or Golden Delicious works as well.
• Oat Crumble: Butter, oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon and nutmeg form a classic buttery topping for these bars.

How to Make Apple Crisp Bars

Step 1: Prepare the Shortbread Crust

• Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
• Add in the sugar beat until creamy.
• Mix in the flour until just combined.
• Place the dough into the lined pan and prick with a fork several times over the surface.
• Bake for 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven.

Step 2: The Apple Filling

• Slice washed apples into ¼ inch slices. Should you peel the apples? You can, but I like to leave the peels on for added fiber and makes these apple bars that much easier.
• Toss the apples with sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
• Place apples on the pre-baked cookie crust.

Step 3: The Crumble

• In a medium bowl, mix the oats, flour, sugar, and spices together.
• Add in the butter and using 2 forks, a pastry cutter, or your hands to bring the mixture together--it should literally form a crumble.
• Top the apple filling with the oat crumble.
• Bake the apple bars until the apples are tender and the crisp topping is golden.

Step 4: Serve

• Once baked, let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then carefully lift out the parchment paper and let cool completely before slicing into bars.

More Apple Recipes

• Instant Pot Applesauce
• Easy Cream Cheese Apple Dip
• Easy Apple Crisp Recipe
• Healthy Apple Cinnamon Bread
• Dutch Apple Pie
• Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Apples

If you tried these Apple Crisp Bars, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.