Apple Pie Bars
Keep this in mind before you go pumpkin-crazy - September is about apples, too! These Apple Pie Bars embrace all that is great about this time of year - warm cinnamon, tart apples, and a buttery, crumbly crust. Plus, making this treat in bar form is so much easier (but just as delicious) as a pie!
Ingredients
For the Crust and Topping
- ⅔ cup Brown sugar
- ⅔ cup Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening melted
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1⅔ cup All-purpose flour
- ½ cup Rolled oats
- ½ tsp Clabber Girl® Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Member's Mark™ Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Ground allspice
- ½ tsp Salt
For the Filling
- 1 21 oz can Apple pie filling
- ½ tsp Member's Mark™ Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Lemon juice
- ⅓ cup Walnuts chopped
- Powdered sugar optional
- Caramel sauce optional
Instructions
For the Crust and Topping
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, melted shortening, vanilla extract, and lemon juice until well-blended and creamy.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and stir until you have a dough that will hold together.
- Press two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
For the Filling
- In the bowl used for the flour mixture, combine the apple pie filling, cinnamon and lemon juice. Stir to combine.
- When the crust has cooled, pour the apple pie filling on top of the crust. Take the remaining one-third of the dough and crumble it over the top of the pie filling.
- Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts. Bake for 24 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting. Dust tops with powdered sugar and/or drizzle with caramel sauce, if desired.
- Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.