Salted Caramel Apple Bars
If your neighbor is kind enough to invite your kid to go to an apple orchard for some apple picking, the correct answer is "yes." The correct answer is also "Shhhh! No complaining about how many apples end up at your house!"
It's a lot, by the way. A TON.
That means I'm making all of the apple things, including these Salted Caramel Apple Bars. I came across the recipe earlier in the summer and made note of it. Apparently I knew that Alexis was going to show up with approximately ALL OF THE APPLES OMG.
The recipe is perfect exactly as it was originally posted, though there is one thing I will change the next time I make them. Don't throw anything at me, but I think I'm done with the salted caramel phase. I think maybe I'm ready to just let caramel be caramel and leave the salt behind.
I KNOW.
Since I've already outed myself as a freak, can I just admit I'm done with pumpkin spice everything as well? The magic is gone, y'all. At least for me.
Salted Caramel Apple Bars
Crust
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Apple Filling
2 large apples, thinly sliced (the peeling thing doesn't seem to matter)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon all ground nutmeg
Streusel Topping
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed
Caramel sauce (Recipe here or just use ice cream topping. I'm not judging your decisions in this matter.)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8" pan with foil. Yes, this matters. This stuff sticks, so life is easier if you use foil and can just lift it out.
2. Make the crust. Add the sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour to the melted butter and stir until well combined.
3. Press the crust in the bottom of your pan.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, or however long it takes for you to make the other parts of this masterpiece. (Yes, this is a variance from the original recipe. I accidentally learned that it doesn't matter if you use a bit higher temperature, so I'm rolling with it.)
5. While the crust is baking, toss the sliced apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl until the apples are well-coated. Set aside.
6. Make the streudel topping stuff by combining the oats, sugar, cinammon, flour, and butter in a large bowl. The butter needs to stay a little chunky, so mesh the ingredients together using your hands.
7. Layer the apples on top of the cooked crust. Press them down until they're nice and level.
8. Layer the streusel on top of the apples.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the streusel looks slightly browned.
10. Allow the apple goodness to cool thoroughly before drizzling caramel over top.
11. Enjoy!
Recipe
Reader Comments (2)
I thought I was over Pumpkin Spice also until I added a single pump to a Grande Chai Latte. The flavor is earthy yet subtle. Yum!
ohmy. these look spectacular. wow.
#want
(also, you just reminded me of those biscuits in the muffin tins that had the apples on top. any idea what they were called so i can search your site for em? #sogood)