Name: Gluten-free Apple Pie Bars
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 75g soft unsalted butter (⅓ cup); 50g caster sugar (¼ cup); 150g gluten-free plain flour (1 cup); 4 tbsp milk; 3 medium apples: peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces; 20g gluten-free plain flour (2 tbsp); 18g brown sugar (2 tbsp); 1 tsp cinnamon; ⅛ tsp nutmeg; ¼ tsp salt; 1 tsp lemon juice; ½ tsp vanilla extract; 40g gluten-free rolled oats (½ cup); 70g brown sugar (⅓ cup packed); 30g gluten-free plain flour (3 tbsp); ½ tsp cinnamon; pinch of salt; 60g cold chopped butter (¼ cup)

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With a flaky shortbread crust, sweet apple filling, and crunchy streusel topping, these gluten-free apple pie bars make the perfect autumn snack or dessert. They taste just like apple pie— but are so much easier to make!

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Apple pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts. I especially enjoy tucking into a piece of apple pie in the autumn, when apples are in season and plentiful. I love the mix of sweet and tart that you get when you bite into the warm apple filling, that lovely touch of cinnamon and brown sugar that pairs beautifully with that apples, and of course, the buttery, flaky pie crust.

However, I’ll be the first to admit that making a good apple pie from scratch, especially with a gluten-free crust, takes a fair amount of time and effort. You need a large number of apples, all of which need to be peeled and cut, and of course the dough for the pie crust needs to be made in advance, chilled, then rolled out and shaped to the pan (and don’t even get me started on the lattice topping).

So instead of baking an apple pie, I decided to make something just as delicious but much simpler: gluten-free apple pie bars. Inspired by a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction, these bars have all the things I love about a good apple pie, but they take less than half the time and energy to make.

My gluten-free apple pie bars are too just good to be missed; they have a delicious filling of fresh chopped apples tossed with spices, a light and buttery shortbread crust, and finally, a sweet and crunchy brown sugar streusel topping. They have a little bit of everything; sweetness, tartness, freshness, crunch, and a just touch of spice.

If you’re a fan of apple desserts, or you just enjoy baking with apples, then you absolutely must try this simple and scrumptious dessert. Let’s get started!

What you will need

I used a mix of Granny Smith apples and sweeter Gala apples for the filling, but feel free to use whatever apples you prefer. Here’s the full list of ingredients:

unsalted butter
caster sugar
gluten-free plain flour (I used Doves Farm Freee)
milk
fresh apples (medium sized)
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg
salt
lemon juice
vanilla extract
gluten-free rolled oats

How to make Gluten-free Apple Pie Bars

Preheat the oven to 350⁰ F / 180⁰ C/ 160⁰ C Fan. Grease and line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside. Whatever you do, don’t skip this step! Without the parchment paper, removing the apple pie bars from the pan will be a long and painful process.

First, let’s make the shortbread crust. In a mixing bowl, beat the soft butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add the sugar and beat for another 30 seconds. Add the flour and milk and beat until combined. The mixture should be quite crumbly.

Press the dough into the bottom of the lined pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes until it’s a nice golden brown.

While the shortbread crust is baking, you can make the apple filling. First, core and peel the apples and chop them into small pieces (as you can see, I chopped mine quite roughly). In a mixing bowl, combine the chopped apples with the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix until the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.

Next, proceed with the streusel topping. In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten-free oats, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Cut the cold butter into small pieces directly into the dry ingredients. Mix everything until combined (I used my hands for this). The mixture should have a wet sand consistency. Set aside.

Remove the shortbread crust from the oven, and evenly layer the apple filling on top of the warm crust. Press down gently on the apples to fill in any gaps. Then sprinkle the streusel over the apple layer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is a lovely golden brown.

Remove from the oven, allow it to cool for 20 minutes in the pan. Then place the pan in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.

Once chilled, remove it from the pan by gently lifting the sides of the parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut it into square or rectangular bars (12 large bars or 16 smaller bars).

Enjoy these luscious apple pie bars at room temperature, cold, or warm. They are delicious on their own, but feel free to drizzle a little caramel on top, or even add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Enjoy!

Tips for success!

I recommend weighing your ingredients for better accuracy. Since I bought a kitchen scale, I find it so much easier and faster than measuring by cups.
Greasing your pan and lining it with parchment paper is essential! If you skip this step, it will be very difficult to remove the apple pie bars from the pan.
You need soft butter for the crust. I usually let my butter sit out of the fridge on the counter for a few hours before baking if the weather is warm, or overnight in the colder months.
Remember to check the label on your rolled oats to make sure that they are gluten-free.