These vegan caramel apple pie bars are about to be your new favorite treat! They’re filled with cinnamon coated apple slices and layered with a crispy golden brown crumb that adds the perfect texture, then drizzled with a homemade caramel sauce! What’s not to love?
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Vegan Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- vegan caramel sauce – for this recipe you can use a vegan store-bought caramel sauce or make a homemade caramel recipe.
- all- purpose flour – I’ve only made this recipe with regular AP flour, so I can’t say for sure whether or not it will yield the same with other flours like almond or coconut flour. However, I’m sure an all-purpose gluten-free 1:1 flour would work well.
- organic powdered sugar
- vegan butter
- fresh apples – you can use whatever apples you prefer for this recipe. I typically have honey crisp apples on hand, so I used those but if you’d like to try something else like gala or granny smith I’m sure those would work too!
- organic brown sugar – I love the flavor that brown sugar gives, but you could also substitute with organic cane sugar if you don’t have brown.
- ground cinnamon, nutmeg – these spices will add the fall flavor you’re looking for. Cinnamon is the main character, but nutmeg adds a bit of depth. If you don’t have any nutmeg, don’t sweat it.
- cornstarch – no cornstarch? You can also substitute with flour.
How to Make Vegan Caramel Apple Pie Bars
Making these vegan caramel apple pie bars is a lot easier than you might think. I realize that the ingredient list might look a little daunting, but I promise it’s not too bad! You got this! The first thing you’ll want to do is make your vegan caramel sauce. If you plan to make it from scratch it’s important to do this part first so that it has enough time to thicken.
Once your vegan caramel sauce is prepared, you are ready to begin making each of the components that will create the most epic vegan caramel apple pie bars! First, we’ll start with the crust. I like to make my crust in the blender because it’s a lot easier for me than doing it by hand. Simply add all the dry ingredients such as your FLOUR, powdered sugar, and salt to the blender and pulse a few times to combine. Next, add in your vegan butter and one tablespoon at a time add the ice cold water until you’ve formed a dough.
Remove the dough from the blender and transfer it to an 8×8 baking dish that’s lined with parchment paper. Use your hands to flatten out the dough as evenly as possible to cover the bottom of the pan, then set aside. Next, we’ll create our apple filling. It’s important to make sure that your apples are not sliced too thick, or too thin. If they are too thin your apple filling will turn into mush, with little to no texture. On the other hand if they are too thick they will take longer to cook.
I typically slice my apples about 1/4 to 1/3 inches thick and this seems to be the perfect thickness for this vegan caramel apple pie bars recipe. Once all of your apples are sliced add them to a large bowl along with the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and your cornstarch slurry. Gently combine all these ingredients together until all of the apple slices are well coated. Transfer the apples to the baking dish over top of the crust. Use your hands to make the layers as even as possible.
Last but not least it’s time to make the crumb topping. This is just as easy as making the crust! You’ll simply add your dry ingredients to the blender, pulse a few times until it’s combined, then add in five tablespoons of vegan butter. Be sure that it’s cold!
Pulse a few times until you have created a crumb texture then evenly spread this over top of the apple slices in the baking dish. Transfer this dish to the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until the crumb topping has reached a golden brown color and is crispy. Once your vegan caramel apple pie bars are finished baking, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool. Use a sharp knife to cut them into nine bars, then drizzle with your desired amount of caramel sauce over top. Enjoy!
Vegan Caramel Apple Pie Bars Q&A
Can I Substitute with a different fruit instead of apples?
Yes! You can absolutely use whatever fruit you’d like. I think that this recipe would also work really well with peaches and pears!
How long do these vegan caramel apple pie bars keep?
For up to 5 days.
How do I store them?
I’ve found that the best way to store this recipe is by keeping them in an airtight container and placing them in the fridge. While it may be tempting to simply leave them out on the counter, in my experience the crumb topping softened super quickly!
Can these vegan caramel apple pie bars be frozen?
Yes, technically they can be frozen however the crumb topping on top will likely be soft after thawing.
Tips for Making the Best Vegan Caramel Apple Pie Bars:
- Make your homemade caramel sauce in advance! Whenever I make this recipe I typically like to make the caramel sauce the day before so that I’ll know for a fact it’s ready to be used when I make these bars the next day. because caramel sauce is best when it’s had time to cool completely and thicken, you’ll want to make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to let that take place.
- Use cold butter. In both instances where butter is called for it’s important that the butter is cold.
- Be sure that your apples are not sliced too thick or too thin. As mentioned above, I’ve found that the best thickness for the apples is about 1/4 to 1/3 inches thick. If your apples are too thick it will take longer for them to cook, while if your apples are too thin the inside of your vegan caramel apple pie bars will become mushy and nobody wants that!
I know you’ll love this vegan caramel apple pie bars recipe! It’s the perfect fall treat to kick off the season and it’s perfect for sharing with friends and family. After making these for my house they disappeared really quickly! Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes in the comments below!
If you like these, you’ll love my Triple Berry Crumb Bars!
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Vegan Caramel Apple Pie Bars [+VIDEO]
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan caramel sauce
Crust
- 1 cup All- Purpose Flour (can sub with gluten-free 1:1 all purpose flour)
- 1½ tsp organic powdered sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 6 tbsp Vegan Butter cold (can sub with soy free variety)
- 2-3 tbsp water ice cold
Apple Filling
- 2 large apples peeled and sliced thinly (about ¼-⅓ inch)
- 2 tbsp Organic Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 2 tbsp cornstarch + 1½ tbsp water mixed
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup All- Purpose Flour (can sub with gluten-free 1:1 all purpose flour)
- ½ cup Organic Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 5 tbsp Vegan Butter cold – cut into pats (can sub with soy free variety)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉
- In a high speed blender add the dry ingredients for the crust and pulse a few times to combine.1 cup All- Purpose Flour, 1½ tsp organic powdered sugar, 1 pinch salt
- Add the butter to the blender along with the dry ingredients and pulse while adding 1 tablespoon of ice cold water at a time until a dough is formed.6 tbsp Vegan Butter, 2-3 tbsp water
- Remove the dough from blender and transfer it to an 8×8 baking dish lined with parchment paper for easy retrieval. Use your hands to gently press out the dough evenly to cover the bottom of the dish. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients for the apple filling and gently stir to combine.2 large apples, 2 tbsp Organic Brown Sugar, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon, 1 pinch nutmeg, 2 tbsp cornstarch + 1½ tbsp water
- Transfer the coated apples to the 8×8 baking dish over top of the crust as evenly as possible.
- In your high speed blender add the dry ingredients for the crumb topping and pulse a few times to combine.1 cup All- Purpose Flour, ½ cup Organic Brown Sugar, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- Add the vegan butter to the container and continue pulsing until you've created a crumb texture, then cover the coated apples with the mixture.5 tbsp Vegan Butter
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 55 minutes or until the crumb topping is golden brown in color and crispy.
- Once finished baking, remove from the oven and allow them to cool. Use a sharp knife to cut into 9 squares then drizzle with desired amount of caramel sauce. Enjoy!½ cup vegan caramel sauce
