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a close up of salted caramel apple pie bars with an extra caramel drizzle.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Brooke Homec
These salted caramel apple pie bars are a chewy oat bar with a caramel apple pie filling and an oat crumb topping. They're sweet, gooey and loaded with warm spices, salty caramel and tart apples.
5 from 6 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 263 kcal

Ingredients
 

Apple Filling

  • 1 lb (453.59 g) thinly sliced apples about 2 large apples
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) cinnamon
  • teaspoon (0.2 teaspoon) nutmeg
  • pinch of salt

Oat Bottom/Topping

  • ¾ cup (170.25 g) salted butter
  • ¾ cup (165 g) brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) salt
  • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) cinnamon
  • 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (105 g) old fashioned oats
  • 3 ounces (85.05 g) caramel kraft bits, homemade or from the jar
  • 1 tablespoons heavy whipping cream Use this if melting caramels vs. jarred
  • flaked sea salt for topping

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 8x8 pan with cooking spray, and line with parchment.
  • Peel and slice apples into very thin pieces. In a small bowl add apple slices, lemon juice, flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
  • Add salt, baking soda, flour and oats, mixing until combined.
  • Press half the dough onto the bottom of the 8x8 pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
  • While bars bake, melt caramel and cream together in the microwave, if using caramel sauce you don't need to add cream. Cook in 30 second increments, stirring in between until mixed and melted.
  • Top the baked, warm bottom layer of the bars with apple slices, followed by warm caramel sauce.
  • Place dollops of remaining dough on top, don’t worry about it spreading evenly over the top.
  • Bake an additional 28-33 minutes, or until the edges are a golden brown and the caramel is bubbling. Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaked salt.
  • Allow to cool completely. Serve room temperature, or cold from the fridge with an extra drizzle of caramel sauce.

Notes

I like to buy Peters Caramel to have on hand for all my caramel needs, but have used Kraft Caramel bits on the occasion that I am out of Peters. I also made them with Trader Joes salted caramel sauce and it was great too.
I have doubled this recipe many times and baked it in a 9x13 pan instead. If doing so, add 2-3 minutes to each part of the baking.
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.

Nutrition

Calories: 263kcalCarbohydrates: 35gProtein: 3gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 304mgPotassium: 77mgFiber: 1gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 376IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 32mgIron: 1mg
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