These Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars are made with a homemade gluten-free crust, apples tossed in a thick salted caramel sauce and baked with a buttery streusel topping. Serve with a scoop of ice cream and enjoy the unbelievable sweet and salty flavor!
There is nothing more American than apple pie, if you ask me. I first made these apple pie bars for Thanksgiving last year and they were an absolute hit!
Keep reading to learn how to make the best from-scratch pie bars.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Made with a universal homemade gluten-free crust. This buttery shortbread crust is not only good for making salted caramel apple pie bars, but also for pies, chicken pot pie, quiche, and more.
- Perfect for guests. This recipe makes 12 good sized apple pie bars and is ready to please a crowd. Excellent for hosting, potlucks, or bringing to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
- Can be made ahead. These bars are best served cool at room temperature. Feel free to prepare them early in the day so they are ready to eat for an easy dessert.
Tools You'll Need
- Large cup food processor
- Baking tray
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large pot
- Parchment paper
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Making your own gluten-free pie crust at home is simpler than you think! You can even make your own oat flour at home by blitzing rolled oats in the food processor until a powder forms.
Homemade salted caramel sauce is made with a few main ingredients including sugar, butter, heavy cream, kosher salt and vanilla and spices for flavor. I highly recommend kosher salt!
If you've made my Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts, you're familiar with making a simple streusel topping from scratch. If you are gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free certified oats.
Variations
- Use a store-bought crust. It can be difficult to find a ready-made gluten-free crust in stores, but if you happen to come across one, feel free to use it. Just take care to roll it out to the same thickness and size for best results.
- Gluten-free all purpose flour substitute: If you are not gluten-free, you can opt for using regular all-purpose flour and can even substitute the oat flour with whole wheat flour.
- Try a mixture of apples. A variety such as Granny Smith and Honeycrisp would add depth of flavor and be delicious.
- Using salted butter: Unsalted butter is the best, universal butter to use in baking because it's flavor is consistent across brands and it allows you to add salt to taste. With that being said, salted butter can be used, just omit the additional kosher salt.
- Heavy cream alternative: Full fat coconut milk is another good option you may have in the pantry.
- Spice substitute: Replace the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves with 2 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
How to Make Gluten Free Pie Crust
- Combine the dry ingredients. To a food processor, add the gluten free all-purpose flour, oat flour, and salt. Pulse 4-5 times to mix together.
- Add the butter. Pulse again 4-5 times until the butter is throughout in small pea-sized crumbs.
- Add the vinegar and water. Continue pulsing until the mixture begins to come together and form a dough. If needed, add additional water 1 tablespoon at a time until the gluten free crust holds together when pinched.
- Roll out the dough. Place the crust onto a well floured (using the gluten free all-purpose flour) surface, and roll to a rectangle that is about 12X16 inches.
- Transfer the dough to your baking sheet. Place on a lightly greased, parchment-lined baking sheet, so that there is a bit of crust overhanging the edge. Trim the edges so they are flush with the baking sheet.
- Make fun cutouts to add on top of the bars. When trimming the crust, I like to reserve any excess dough for fun cutouts to place on top of the pie.
- Chill the dough. Place the dough in the baking sheet in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the apple pie filling.
How to Make Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Prep the apples. Peel the apples and cut them into ¼ inch thick slices. Toss the apples and gluten free all-purpose flour together in a large bowl and set aside.
- Caramelize the sugar. Place granulated sugar and light brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gently stir the sugar, periodically, as the sugar caramelizes. This will take about 10 minutes, or until the sugar has turned a dark, amber color.
- Stir in the remaining apple pie filling. Reduce the heat to low and gently stir in the heavy cream and butter mixture, a little at a time. Slowly whisk in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Add the apples. Toss the apples with the homemade salted caramel sauce until well combined. Set aside.
- Make the streusel topping. mix together the gluten free all-purpose flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a small bowl using your hands or a pastry blender. Rub the mixture together until small, pea-sized pieces form. Set aside.
- Fill the pie crust. Spread the apples in the chilled pie crust, then sprinkle with the streusel layer.
- Bake. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is beginning to bubble through the streusel topping.
Prep Ahead Options
Make the pie dough ahead of time. Complete steps 1 and 2 in the recipe card below, then wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Then when you are ready to bake, allow the dough to come to room temperature before rolling out on a floured surface.
Serving Suggestions
You can't go wrong with serving apple pie bars with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
You may enjoy my Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies too if you want to provide a little variety. Perfect for holidays or get togethers during the fall season.
Recipe FAQs
There is salt in salted caramel, yes! The main distinction between salted caramel and caramel is the additional sea salt in the salted caramel recipe.
When baking with apples, you want to pick crisp, firm apples that won't turn mealy or too soft when baking. Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp are some of the best apple varieties to use that are also easy to find in most grocery stores. When possible, avoid fuji and gala apples
Bourbon Apple Cider Cocktail, Gluten Free Apple Cider Donuts, and Apple Cider Moscow Mules have been my go-to apple recipes of the season! You could also try a classic gluten-free apple crisp.
Tips and Tricks for Success
- Take care to cut the apples in ¼" thick slices. If the apples are sliced too thickly, they will underbake and be crunchy. Cutting them to the correct thickness is essential to working with the bake time.
- Use the parchment paper. Although you may be able to get away with making these apple pie bars by greasing the baking sheet with cooking spray instead, the parchment paper guarantees these bars won't stick and makes them easy to remove and slice.
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Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
Gluten Free Crust Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups gluten free all-purpose flour 1:1 ratio
- 1 cup gluten free oat flour
- 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 10-12 tablespoons ice water
Salted Caramel Apple Filling Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 7 cups medium apples peeled and cut into ¼ inch thick slices (about 6-8 apples)
- ½ cup gluten free all-purpose flour
Streusel Topping Ingredients
- ⅓ cup gluten free all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup certified gluten free rolled oats
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- To make the crust, place gluten free all-purpose flour, oat flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 4-5 times, just to mix the dry ingredients. Place the butter in the food processor bowl, and pulse 4-5 times again. Add the vinegar and 8 tablespoons of water, and pulse until it begins to come together (about 10 times). If needed, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture just comes together.
- Place the crust onto a well floured (using the gluten free all-purpose flour) surface, and roll to a rectangle that is about 12X16 inches. Place on a lightly greased, parchment-lined baking sheet, so that there is a bit of crust overhanging the edge. Trim the edges so they are flush with the baking sheet, reserving any excess dough for fun cutouts to place on top of the pie. Place the pie dough in the refrigerator while making the pie filling.
- To make the Salted Caramel Apple Pie filling, toss together the apples and gluten free all-purpose flour in a large bowl and set aside.
- Place granulated sugar and light brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gently stir the sugar, creating a well in the center. As the sugar begins to caramelize, gently stir a bit more sugar from the outside of the well into the center. Keep doing this, periodically, as the sugar caramelizes. This will take about 10 minutes. While the sugar is melting and caramelizing, heat the heavy cream and butter in the microwave.
- Once the sugar has turned a dark amber color, reduce the heat to low and gently stir in the heavy cream and butter mixture, a little at a time. Slowly whisk in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Toss the sugar mixture with the apples, until well combined. Set aside while making the streusel topping.
- To make the streusel topping, mix together the gluten free all-purpose flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a small bowl using your hands. Rub the mixture together until small, pea-sized pieces form. Set aside.
- Place the filling over the crust, and spread evenly.. Top evenly with the streusel topping. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is beginning to bubble through the streusel topping.
- Let cool for 2 hours before cutting.
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