Apple Pie Bars Recipe (2024)

I make a simplified version of this Streusel with no sugar in the apple and only one baking. In other words, I put the chopped (unpeeled) apples and nuts directly on top of the chilled raw crust, grate the rest of the dough on top and bake it in one go. Bake near the bottom of the oven.

These were good, rich with butter, but there was a little too much cardamom for my taste. I will probably eliminate it from the topping. I may also cut back on the nutmeg. I prefer the simple flavor of the apples and light cinnamon.

Delicious as written! Yes, a pie is little bit easier, but you have to eat the whole pie. These little beauties keep in the fridge and freeze beautifully. You can pull out a few at a time if you need a quick dessert and they are like the day you baked them. They also make a generous 24 bars. As for the butter, my goodness, this is a dessert.. and well worth the splurge! Most negative comments on this recipe are because people don't care for cardamon. This is like the cilantro thing!!

These are delicious! Left out cardamom (I was out) but otherwise followed recipe as-is. My husband, who doesn’t cook, asked me to show him how to make them. Unprecedented.

This is almost identical to an Ina Garten recipe where she omits the cardamom. I have made this twice, to great reviews. The recipe can easily be halved and believe increasing the amount of walnuts made for a better topping. In my opinion, lining the pan with foil is a "must."

This is an excellent bar. I, for one, love cardamom & have used it in my apple pies so, when this apple recipe called for the spice my heart lept! This recipe needs no tweaking, omissions or additions. Just go bravely where many cooks have gone before & prepare as written. You'll be very, very happy.

Making it now. Why does it need to cook for 40min after topping put on? Apples are already soft. Doesn’t topping just need cooking?

Erin, to scale from a 9x12 to a 8x8 pan:9x12=108 and 8x8=6464 is 59% of 108.Multiply each ingredient by .59 (using half the amounts would be easier, but would result in a slightly thinner bar)

I baked this per the recipe. I agree with whatever commenters thought the bake time was too long. The bottom of the crust was almost burnt and obscured the taste of the rest of the bar. I also thought the crust was rather tasteless in spite of having used 3 sticks of butter in it. There are recipes in old church cookbooks that are easier and taste better than this. I consider this a waste of three sticks of butter and six apples.

Flawless. Perfect. Not being a frequent user or fan of cardamom I was tempted to leave it out. I polled the gathered diners who voted for the cardamom. Of all the holiday desserts at that meal, this was the most popular and the one everyone wanted to take home with them. It was, by all accounts, delicious.

These were nothing less than sensational, and I made them as written. A new heirloom recipe for me has been born. Last night we had these with vanilla ice cream, and this morning with coffee! Can't rave enough. Thank you Ms. Ko for what you've shared.

Super yummy, but very rich. I felt the recipe made too much crust so I didn’t use it all, or you may want to make a little extra apple mixture as it does cook down. I only baked them for 30 minutes and they were perfect. The apples are cooked down already. This could even be a good recipe for Thanksgiving for those who don’t want a whole slice of pie. You still get all the flavor without as many calories.

This surely looks delicious! However I wonder if the taste merits the health hazard of SO much butter and if the apples still have any real flavour after so much cooking?? I have been making apple pie for about 50 years (!) and the standard recipe for pie dough calls for a generous 1/3 cup of butter for 1 cup of flour!!! This “pie” is finger food which is a great idea but more complicated and time consuming to make? In the “old fashion” recipe rolling out the dough takes about 5 minutes.

I'm thinking 3 sticks of butter would hold any dough together.

this was delicious... I can't abide cardamom, so I left it out of the crust and topping and replaced it with a pinch of ginger in the filling... yum

Didn't use walnuts, used cinnamon but substituted apple pie spice for the other spices; apples have too much liquid so I cooked them just enough, then used slotted spoon to remove them and put them on the cooked bottom crust ; cooked the remaining liquid with corn starch until thickened and drizzled over apples, then put top crust on. Baked for maybe 25 or 30 minutes, just until top crust had some integrity. Turned out PERFECT! Lots of work, but result was amazing.

So much talk about butter! Here's my take - this is indeed a shortbread crust. A typical shortbread recipe has one part sugar, two parts butter and four parts flour. If you reduce the crust sugar by 1/4 cup in this recipe, it's spot on! For a little extra flavor, embellish with salt, vanilla, lemon peel, or whatever your own taste buds desire. The baking is different though - to bake through without burning, low and slow is typical. 300°F for 30-40 minutes should do it.

This was a big hit and so delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and found it very rich and flavorful with the spices bloomed in the butter. I think I would cut back on the sugar though, particularly in the filling. It was a bit sweet.

I’ve made this several times and it’s always a big hit. Great way to feed a small crowd.

Used Melt plant butter and pecans. Super!

Astonishingly good! I love that the crust and topping are made together. Used plant butter, still very tasty.

I have made this 3 times this month for parties and celebrations. Loved by every one. Cut butter down by 1/2 stick total. Also 1/4 cup less sugar over all and 1/4 cardamom. Also have froze small packs of left overs. Yes, takes more time then pie, but more versatile. Dinner

Everyone loved this last year and will bake again this Christmas. Used pecans instead of walnuts because I had them on hand.

Wonderful to have the bottom and top crusts come out of the same bowl essentially. Really delicious but very rich! These are a once a year treat.

These are delicious. I love the taste of the spices cooked briefly in the butter before adding the apples. Based on the comments and my own ideas, I made a few changes. I did not use a food processor. I cooked the apples until they seemed the right level of doneness without worrying about how much liquid they had. I halved the recipe and used a square pan. I added a half cup of oats to the crust, used half a stick of melted butter and replaced the rest with applesauce, and used less sugar. Yum!

I made these and followed the recipe exactly except I had to hand mix the crust with a pastry blender which may have made the difference. I left the cardamum because I am in Sweden and that flavor is appreciated here (it is super nice but maybe not so traditional in the US). The crust was just sooooo buttery and almost greasy, however the French colleague did not find that problematic. Would probably be 5 stars with a better bottom layer.

Watch it, I over-cooked the base waiting for it to "brown" during the first cook. Still tasted delicious but 30 seconds longer and it would have been a throwaway.

I made the mistake of trying to make these the night before Thanksgiving, and it was a lot. I had read the recipe but somehow missed how many stages of baking were involved. I finally wound up making the mixture, put half in the apples and then the other half on top and gave it one good bake, and it was delicious. I'll definitely make that mixture again and use it with other fruit and apples too.

I doubled the spice but otherwise followed the recipe and it was a huge hit. I loved the flavor of the cardamon and walnuts. I will make this instead of apple pie from now on.

Delicious! Easier to make second time.