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Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars

Apple crisp shortbread bars with a pressed buttery oat shortbread base, cinnamon-spiced apple filling, and a golden crumble topping. Bakes until the apples bubble and the crumble turns crisp, then cools completely for clean slices.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 310
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Shortbread base (doubles as crumble)
  • 2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
Apple filling
  • 4 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 0.33 cup granulated sugar
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 caramel sauce for serving

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a 9x13 pan with parchment.
Make the shortbread base
  1. Mix all-purpose flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then cut in cold cubed butter until the mixture looks crumbly.
  2. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping.
  3. Press the remaining mixture firmly into the prepared pan.
  4. Bake the base for 12 minutes, until slightly set.
Assemble and bake
  1. Toss thinly sliced apples with granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and lemon juice until evenly coated.
  2. Layer the apple mixture over the hot baked base.
  3. Scatter the reserved crumble evenly over the apples.
  4. Bake 30-35 minutes at 375F until the topping is golden and the apples are bubbling (visual cue: juices should bubble through the crumble).
Cool and serve
  1. Cool completely before slicing to help the bars hold their layers.
  2. Drizzle with caramel sauce to serve (visual cue: caramel streaks across the top of each bar).

Notes

For neat slices, cool the bars fully on a wire rack; if they’re warm, the layers can slump. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Freeze bars (without slicing if possible) up to 2 months and thaw overnight in the fridge, then warm briefly if you like. For a lighter option, swap half the brown sugar in the base for a brown sugar alternative sweetener that measures 1:1.