Oh hello perfect Fall treat!
I’ve been on a bit of an apple spree ever since going apple picking and this dessert was too good not to share! It’s got a perfect whole grain cookie base and is then topped with so much apple pie flavor you will honestly have a hard time believing you’re not digging into a pie.
I HIGHLY recommend serving these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. Especially if you’re eating it warm out of the oven, there’s just nothing better than a warm apple pie bar with slightly melted ice cream. Each bite is pure bliss.
The recipe calls for using apple butter, but I recently found APPLE CIDER JAM at Trader Joe’s and couldn’t pass up using it in this recipe. That said, I think it would be just as delicious if you used apple butter! But if you have Trader Joe’s near you, regardless of whether you use it for this recipe or not, you MUST get yourself some of the Apple Cider Jam. It goes perfectly on just about anything you can slather it on.
If you’re not a big pie maker (I actually have NEVER made an apple pie start to finish by myself since my family always bakes all the holiday desserts together) – these are the perfect substitution. You get all the pie flavor with much less effort. Even if you DO love baking pies, you can’t go wrong with these babies as a way to switch up the Fall dessert table!
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice (more if you want!)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 medium apple, peeled and diced
- 1 10 or 12-oz jar of apple butter
- 1/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350 degrees F
- Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray
- Combine flour, brown sugar, apple pie spice, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
- Stir in walnuts
- In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and oil then add to flour mixture
- Stir until well blended, then use your hands to continue working with the mixture until crumbs form (note - it will be pretty loose and sandy in texture)
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture and add the rest to the prepared pan, pressing to form an even layer
- Bake until set and lightly browned along the edges (about 10 minutes).
- Combine the peeled, diced apple with the apple butter and spread evenly over the warm crust
- Mix the 1/2 cup of reserved crumb mixture with oatmeal then sprinkle over fruit spread
- Bake until fruit is bubbly at edges and topping is browned (about 15-20 minutes)
- Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack then cut into 16 squares.
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