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apple pie bars with icing

Healthy Apple Pie Crumble Bars

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Ashlea Carver
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

Healthy Apple Pie Crumble bars with a delicious oatmeal cookie crust and apple filling. These bars are made with a combination of almond flour and oats so they are naturally gluten-free. They are so easy to make and the perfect treat that everyone will love!


Ingredients

Scale

For the Crust and Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, diced

For the Apple Filling

  • 3 1/2 cups thinly sliced apples (roughly 34 small to medium pink lady or Granny Smith apples)
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • juice of one lemon
  • 2 teaspoons arrowroot or cornstarch

Icing Drizzle:

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon almond milk

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Add the oats, almond flour, brown sugar, and butter almond flour to a mixing bowl. Use your hands to work the butter into the flour, sugar, and oats until it is well combined and forms a dough like consistency.
  3. Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into a 8×8 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, remove from the oven, and set aside.
  4. In a medium saucepan combine the sliced apples, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cardamom over medium-high heat. Cook the apples for 7-9 minutes until they start to become tender.
  5. Once the apples are tender, remove them from the heat. Whisk together the lemon juice and cornstarch to make a slurry and then pour that mixture into the apples. Stir until the apple filling has thickened.
  6. Pour the apple filling over the crust and then use a spatula to spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the remaining topping evenly over the filling.
  7. Let the bars bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the fruit is bubbly around the edges and the top is golden brown.
  8. While the bars are baking make the icing drizzle my whisking together the almond milk and powdered sugar until smooth.
  9. Let the bars come to a complete cool. Slice into 16 squares and then drizzle the icing over the bars. Enjoy!

Notes

  • almond flour – if you have a nut allergy, feel free to use all-purpose flour or a gluten free all-purpose flour instead. Coconut flour is too drying and will not work as a 1-to-1 substitute flour the almond flour in this recipe.
  • brown sugar – you can easily substitute brown sugar for coconut palm sugar in this recipe. I would not recommend using a liquid sweetener in place of brown sugar in this recipe.
  • butter – to keep the bars dairy free, feel free to use coconut oil instead of butter if you like. It will add a bit of a coconut flavor to the bars. Just make sure that the coconut oil is solid and not melted before using. If you have a favorite vegan butter substitute you can feel free to use that instead of traditional butter if you prefer.
  • arrowroot starch – I love to use arrowroot starch as a grain free replacement for cornstarch in several recipes. If you don’t have any you can simply substitute corn starch in its place. Tapioca flour will also likely work.