Love apple crisp? Try it in the form of these streusel-covered, grab-and-go bars.—They make an awesome after-school snack, healthy dessert, or even breakfast!
Guess what? Today is the last day of Apple Week.
I know, I’m broken-hearted about it too. But I think I’m even MORE sad about the fact that I seriously must have gained 10 pounds with all this apple recipe taste-testing the past few weeks….
GOOD times ‘goin on, guys. 😀
Let’s do a quick 5-second recap of the past week shall we?
Monday: We gorged ourselves on apple upside-down cake.
Tuesday: My talented friend Izzy shared this awesome apple pie cream cheese.
Wednesday: We all had a tall stack of apple pie ricotta pancakes.
Thursday: Caramel apples with EVERYTHING on ’em took over my blog.
Friday: Morning oatmeal got a HUGE makeover in the direction of caramelized apples.
Saturday: My good friend, Kelly nearly killed me with this cinnamon almond butter dip…with apples for dippers of course.
Today: Apple crisp in the form of bars.
Stick around. This is going in a tasty direction.
So apple crisp? It’s pretty much my idea of a perfect fall dessert. Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and Food Network on TV and I’m set for the night.
Possibly even for life. ♥
Plus it’s a perfect way to use up all those apples that I hope we all have coming outta our ears by now.
Fall DOES officially start in T-minus 8 days, so start stocking up!
But classic apple crisp isn’t really the best grab-and-go snack/dessert. Unless you’re like me and just dig into it straight from the pan…
Yes, that’s happened and I have no regrets….my skinny jeans do, though.
But I don’t think everyone’s as cray as I am, so apple crisp was just begging to be put in a bar.
So apple crisp and a bar (the dessert kind) were happily married, they then had lots of babies and named them Apple Crisp Bars.
Then….Sarah ate their babies.
Or attempted to eat the entire panful…
Seriously, I did my best to eat all these bars by myself (I was taking direct orders from my apple-crisp lovin’ tastebuds) but my family stopped me after only two.
I was just like YO! You’re interfering with my taste-testing! Somebody’s gotta do these things around here ‘ya know!
Sigh. They don’t get it.
Seriously though, guys. This is just heaven in a bar. The apples are soft and cinnamon-sugary, and they’re piled high with streusel upon streusel.
Just lookit’ that gorgeous streusel! Extra extra streusel? Always.
Am I being annoying? Sorry, I kinda just like saying the word “streusel.”
I like eating it more, though.
If you wanna get fancy you could even drizzle these bars with some warm caramel sauce.
Oh heavens, yes..
As a ginormous bonus, these bars could NOT be simpler to make. (and eat!) Whip ’em up in the morning and eat them for breakfast like I did (no shame) or if you have some REAL self-control, save ’em for the kids for an after-school snack or lighter dessert.
That being said, your weekend needs some Apple Crisp Bars. Save some for me, though m’kay?
Apple Crisp Bars
Ingredients
- CRUST:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- FILLING:
- 3 large Gala apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- STREUSEL:
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cold butter cubed
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 baking pan in the bottom and up the sides with tin foil and lightly grease. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and salt until smooth. Stir in flour until moist crumbs form. Press crumbs evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake crust at 350F 10-12 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire cooling rack.
- Prepare the filling: Evenly layer sliced apples over pre-baked crust. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over apples.
- Prepare the streusel: In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter with a fork until mixture forms into pea-sized crumbs. Sprinkle streusel evenly over apple filling.
- Bake bars at 350F 25 minutes, or until streusel is golden and apples are softened. Cool bars completely on a wire cooling rack before cutting into squares.
Christin@SpicySouthernKitchen says
I have loved apple week and these bars are a great way to finish it off!
Sarah says
Thanks, Christin! 🙂
Anne Kepner says
Made this tonight with some honey crisp apples- YUM!