Need a killer dessert for your office party or dinner club? You need salted caramel oven-baked apple bars!
Pie does not have to be round. This delicious dairy-free, gluten-free vegan apple pie bar will leave you coming back for seconds and maybe thirds. Okay, let’s face it; you may just want to eat the whole batch. These bars are the perfect dessert that will make happy taste buds. Enjoy popping bites of salted caramel oven-baked apple pie in your mouth!
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 2 tablespoons oat flour (or grind your own oats completely)
- 2 whole apples (peeled, cored, and thinly sliced)
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice or nutmeg
Bars
- 1 ¼ cups old fashioned oats
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons oat flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ cup 100% pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 flax egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract
Salted Caramel Sauce (vegan)
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (thick white part from the can)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼–½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Salted Caramel Drizzle:
- Heat a pot and turn to medium-high heat
- Stir in the sugar for about 1 minute
- Add in the coconut milk, sea salt, and vanilla extract and continue to stir to combine
- Bring the liquid mixture to a boil
- Reduce to simmer on low-medium heat for approximately 15 minutes (make sure heat is not on high--the sugar will begin to crystalize if so) Stir occasionally until it begins to thicken
- You may add in additional sea salt as an option
- Remove from heat, let it cool, and transfer to a glass container
- Put in the fridge to allow it to cool and thicken for approx. 2 hours
Bars
- Make certain you begin with caramel drizzle to allow time to cool and thicken. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper
- Mix all ingredients for the apple filling and set to the side
- In a large bowl, combine mix all of the dry ingredients
- In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly
- Begin to slowly add in all of the wet ingredients stirring for approximately 2 minutes
- Divide the mixture into two halves
- Take one of the halves and evenly press to the bottom of the baking dish to form a crumbly crust. Bake for approx. ten minutes
- Remove the oven-baked crust and evenly pour the apple filling over the warm crumble
- Take the second half of the crumble mixture pressing it together and add over the apple filling pressing it down slightly
- Put back in the oven and bake for 25–30 minutes until golden
- Let it cool and place in the fridge for about 1 hour
- Cut into nice size bars, drizzle caramel sauce, and enjoy (hot or cold)
Author: Tim-McComsey
