I baked Ina Garten’s Apple Pie Bars on Sunday afternoon and it’s safe to say that it’s the best baking recipe that I’ve tried in a long time. Ina + Apple Pie = two things you just can’t go wrong with.
I inadvertently messed up on the recipe but I think that made the bars even better. Also, I was heavy handed with the spices, changed the type of apples and added more apples than called for so I decided to share my take on the recipe with you.
I personally think these bars are JUST as good as a big slice of apple pie, if not better. They’re definitely easier than apple pie due to the ease of making the pastry crust. (I don’t agree with that whole “easy as apple pie” quote when it comes to making pie crust.) The pastry crust here is made in a mixer and then pressed into the bottom of a parchment paper-lined pan. You reserve about a third of it for sprinkling on top. No rolling or cutting required and it tastes incredible. So buttery and delicious with just the right balance of sweetness.
The apple pie bars are also extremely easy to lift out of the pan thanks to the parchment paper and the pastry crust holds up well to being sliced into squares and doesn’t crumble.
Speaking of sweetness, these apple pie bars aren’t hurt your teeth sweet. There’s no denying that they’re heavy on the butter and have their fair share of sugar but it all seems just right for a perfect homemade dessert.
I can confidently say that these bars are great on their own but you’re in for a treat if you serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream.
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Ina’s Apple Pie Bars – Easier Than Apple Pie!
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
Description
Ina Garten’s Apple Pie Bars – EASIER than apple pie!
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
FOR THE FILLING
- 3 lbs apples or about 4 medium apples (gala, braeburn, golden delicious, pink lady, etc), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 inch slices
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a non-stick 8×8 square baking pan by lining it with parchment paper cut 8 inches wide but long enough to hang over two edges of the pan. This will make removing the bars from the pan very easy!
- For the crust, using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, place butter, sugars and vanilla in the bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until lightened in color and creamy. Whisk together flour, kosher salt, cinnamon and walnuts and slowly add to the butter-sugar mixture, with the mixer on low speed. Beat until just combined. Scatter two-thirds of the dough into prepared baking pan and press down lightly so that it covers the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides. Reserve the remaining 1/3 dough for topping. Refrigerate pan for 20 minutes and then remove from fridge and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Set aside to cool.
- While crust refrigeration and cooking is happening, prepare the filling. Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot and then add the apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes. The apples will be tender and most of the liquid will have evaporated. Add the cornstarch in the last minute of cooking and stir until thickened. Remove apples from heat and spread evenly over the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
- Smush pieces of the remaining dough with your fingers and scatter evenly on top of the apples (they will not be covered completely). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is browned. Cool, lift out of pan using parchment handles and cut into bars.
Other favorite apple recipes…
Cranberry Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
Cranberry, Apple and Walnut Quinoa
these sound amazing! we’re hoping to go apple picking in the next week or two, so i’m saving this one!!
I know you’ll love these Julie!
OK, this may be a dumb question, but I assume you’re supposed to core and slice the apples before cooking them with the butter. Seems obvious, but probably needs to be included. Do you recommend peeling them or not peeling them? Traditional apple pie has peeled apples…
I’ll update the recipe! That was a complete oversight on my part. Thank you! 🙂
Made these and they were amazing
I live in NYC and met Ina Garten Park Avenue and 62nd street yesterday. She is very lovely just as I would have been expected. It was funny that u mentioned her this morning as I read your witty, insightful, awesome blog everyday. Recipe is ??
You met Ina?!?!?! That’s amazing. And that makes me SO happy to hear she is really is lovely!!
Can I use ground nutmeg instead of freshly grated nutmeg?
How AMAZING that you met Ina yesterday! I can’t imagine her being anything other than warm and lovely. She just seems to radiate that. I appreciate your kind words about my blog. xoxo
How delicious is this??? Love the extra apples and slices!
Thank you! They are delicious!
OMG that looks amazing. Now that we have a house (i.e. bigger kitchen), I have SO many things I want to bake. I’m adding these to the list! I’ve wanted to experiment with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour blend, and this seems like a perfect opportunity!
xo
Thank you! And yes, you must break in that new kitchen with lots of yummy homemade food!
These sound delicious! I like your substitutions. I still have so many apples from apple picking so adding this to the list!
I think you’ll love them!
I made these to celebrate the October 1 yesterday ??Do you think I could cut these up, individually wrap them, and freeze them? Then heat them up when wanted?
Hi – I’m sorry for the late response but yes, I think you could. Most baked goods tend to freeze quite well. I would say they’d probably keep okay in the freezer if they’re individually tightly wrapped for 2-3 months.
oh my gosh! those are so beautiful.
Do you think you could be lazy ,if at a loss for time, and use pie filling?
These were tasty but FAR more work than making an apple pie!! Most notably, cooking the crust, then cooking the apples on the stove top, then baking the whole thing again! WAAAYY too much work & too time-consuming! Took me 2 hours!!
Won’t be making these again anytime soon…
It’s definitely worth all the work to make this in my opinion.?
You used an 8×8 pan. Ina used 9×13. Why did you?
I agree! These are very good, but the title is misleading. Took me a lot longer than I expected to complete!
I made these this weekend — sooo good! The best part is that you can eat it cold the next morning for the perfect breakfast… alongside a hot cup of coffee 🙂
Apple pie for breakfast with coffee in the morning? ???
I once went to coffee with my father onThanksgiving morning. I was surprised when he ordered a slice of pumpkin pie. When I commented on that he replied, “After all of that food there is never room for pie. So I would rather have it with coffee now.’ Seeing the wisdom, I have been doing the same since:-)
I also made these this weekend and have been enjoying them with coffee! When I make them again, I plan to cook the apples for less time since I ended up with apple sauce consistency. I will also add some more cinnamon to the apple mixture and am considering browning the butter! Thanks for sharing this lovely Fall recipe!
Do you think this recipe could be doubled in a 9×13?
yes!
I doubled the recipe, and used a 9×13 pan. Worked out fine.
I have made these several times and everybody loves them. Here’s the reason why I love them. I think apple pies are tricky because my pies either turn out to runny or too dry. Too many unknown quantities: freshness of apples, moisture content, or the sweetness. But these apple pie bars are consistently good. It taste just like an apple pie and they are easy to serve too (how many people think a slice of apple pie looks good). I throw in a couple more apples than the 3 lbs listed in the ingredients. I just found a little more apple was needed.
I’ve already posted a comment on this recipe. What I forgot to mention is that I used MacIntosh apples, my favorite apples. I will definitely make this over and over again! I made it (doubled it because I took it to a party) and was disappointed that almost all was eaten at the party I brought it to. It’s gone now, but I wanted to go to the market and buy all the ingredients today and make it again! Yum!
Can this be made without the nuts?
this is easy to make and delicious
I’ve come to the conclusion that making good pastry is a gene determined trait, like height and hair color. I’m an experienced cook and a pretty fair bread baker but pie crusts and similar pastries defeat me. The same recipe, baked in the same oven, under the same conditions will go wrong in different ways. I’m not right AND I’m not consistent. Hopefully your recipe will break the curse!
Way too much work for a 8×8; would definitely double for a 9×13
Just made this recipe and it is Devine looks great and is going to be my go to from here on in . Thankyou
Made this using Red Mills 1-1 baking flour. The inclusion of the spices and the vanilla extract in the dough made a HUGE difference in the taste of the gluten free crust! The dough didn’t have that blah taste. I did omit the initial 20 min. baking of the crust as gluten free crust dries out easily, at least that’s what I have come across. I also did not cook the apples as much as I like the apples larger. ? how this recipe adapted well to a gluten free crust!
I have made these twice…both times for my birthday. They are absolutely delicious. They are worth the work! The crust is divine. The whole family cannot quit saying YUM
This recipe is pretty much fool(me) proof. I pretty much dumped all the crumble in my mixer then checked the directions.Did the same with the apples and it worked in spite of me! It turned out to be delicious and I didn’t need a rolling pin. ?.
This is delicious! Was going to double everything to make it in a 9×13 pan, but when I saw the 1 cup of butter in the crust, the thought of doubling that made me cringe so I made some adjustments. I still made it in the 9×13 pan, I did not double the crust, but more than doubled the apples since I love the fruit part of pie. I cooked the apples for less than 10 minutes since they were already soft and I didn’t want them to completely turn to mush. The dessert turned out beautifully- I actually can’t imagine needing any more crust than it has. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Mine are in the oven now for the final bake. Had seen an apple bundt cake recipe with a ripple of cream cheese filling, so I made a batch of filling and put it on the apples before the crumble layer. Fingers crossed. Shouldn’t ad lib on a first-time recipe, but here goes anyway…
Can these be frozen to serve later?
I think they would freeze well!
What size pan would I need to triple the recipe? Do you think a half sheet cake pan would work?
No. A sheet pan isn’t deep enough.
I Just took this out of the oven. It smells and looks delicious. Will have a piece with a scoop of ice cream tonight.
I made your apple crumb bars today. They are outstanding . Thank you for sharing.
I agree that this recipe isn’t easier than a true pie, but they smell really good! I’m wondering why the need to bake the crust, cook the apples on the stove and then baking them aLl together. Could you refrigerate the crust, fill with uncooked apples cover with remaining crust and bake it for the 55 minutes this recipe calls for?
Hi Julie – the bottom crust is too thick to cook through without blind baking first.
Can you use a tart dish and omit the parchment paper?
You could try if your tart dish is deep enough. Baking with parchment just makes things so much easier!
I made this dessert and it was amazing. I added lemon rind which added flavor.
This is one of my most popular recipes. I often bake for others, especially as repayment for something they did for me. I am making them now for the people across the street who have helped us a lot the past year through some health issues with my husband; now they sometimes do grocery shopping for us so we don’t have to risk getting Covid-19. The 15 yr. old boy often helps us out around the yard. Such a great family! I have to make these bars gluten free now for my husband and they are still delicious.
I am wondering, can these be made without the walnuts?
Do these need to be refrigerated? What is the best way to store these, and how many days will they last?
I used 3 pounds of apples which came out to 7 large. The scale at the store could have been off but I used them all and it came out very high. They did not cook down like my apple pie did the week before. I will, however, be making this again and I will try 4-5 medium apples. The taste was excellent!
Hello, these look amazing! I am also wondering if you can omit the walnuts without altering the recipe?
I am going to make these to bring for Thanksgiving….making the day before, so do I just serve them cold? or should I heat them up before serving? I have to travel 5 hours
Is it ok to substitute margarine for some of the butter? (I don’t have that much butter on hand and would love to make these tonite.) Thank you.
I’m not sure but you can try!
Delicious! The right balance of salty and sweet. I will definitely make this again.
So happy to hear this!
Has anyone made this recipe omitting the walnuts?
A lot of inquiries about not adding walnuts. I’m sure you could leave them out and it wouldn’t impact the bars at all.
Just made this with my nieces help. Super easy when using refrigerated pie crust and apple pie filling we canned 2 wks ago! Chose not to put crust on top. Wonderful
Thinking of making this for Thanksgiving instead of Apple pie this year, can it be made ahead and frozen?
I rarely comment, and I was skeptical. I bake a lot and I thought the crust was going to end up like a hard shortbread..boy was I wrong. I think the walnuts maybe…anyway. made this for work using the full crust amount as the bottom crust in a 9×13 pan. Doubled the apples cooking some ahead of time as the recipe states and throwing some in raw ( they didn’t all fit in the pan). Made a crisp topping. That crust was amazing!! I will definitely be using that as the topping next time.
Excellent recipe. I made 1.5x the recipe for a 9 x 13 pan. It turned out perfect.
Absolutely wonderful! Glad I made a double batch! Better than apple pie!
Yay! Happy to hear you liked them!
These are SO DELICIOUS! A new go-to recipe for fall baking or just to use up any apples – thank you! A crowd pleaser, for sure!
I’m so glad they were a hit Allison!
I just read Ina’s version and it is made in a 13×9 pan. Your recipe is made in a 9 inch pan. I love that you added more apples and spices. Can I double this recipe for a 13×9 baking pan? I looks absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I think you could try!
Delicious recipe! But did you actually use 3 pounds of apples? Because 4 medium apples is not close to 3 lbs. I was trying to get up to 3 lbs then realized that was more than I’ve ever used in Apple pies. At that point my husband had already peeled 6 so I stopped hi. And it was plenty!
These are AMAZING! They are not easy but worth the work.
Will never make an apple pie again – these are so much better!
AMAZING! I made these for a birthday party/picnic last year. They disappeared so fast & I was asked by every single person for the recipe! These do not disappoint and are worth all the effort! Do yourself a favor & double your batch!!
I just made these, they are absolutely spectacular, definitely making them again, and will have to put them away, i can’t stop eating them!