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These Vegan Apple Pie Bars come together so quickly and easily. Almond Butter in crust and crumble topping helps keep these Oilfree and make these taste extra special. Options for Glutenfree and Nutfree
There is nothing like the scent of apple pie baking and cooling in the kitchen. But if you’re like me, sometimes one does not feel like going through the whole process of making pie crust, chilling it, and rolling it out, making sure everything looks pretty then These homemade Apple pie bars are my easy solution for those urgent apple pie cravings!
These Vegan Apple Pie Bars are much easier to make than making a whole pie and are the perfect way to feed a crowd on a budget. They have all the sweet cinnamon flavors of an All-American apple pie but come in hand-held form!
For these vegan apple crumble pie bars , thr dough you make for the crust doubles as the crumb topping. You could even transform them into caramel apple pie bars should you want to make them extra special. Just use my vegan coconut caramel.
Why you’ll love these Apple pie bars!
- They are easy and perfect snack size
- you don’t need to make a perfect pie dough. The dough is pressed into a loaf pan and works out fine even with a bit less or more binding
- there is no added oil
- It makes a small portion to help with portion control
- These bars satisfy all the pie cravings!
More vegan apple recipes
- Vegan Apple Cake
- Gluten Free Apple Pear Crisp Vegan
- Apple Pie Overnight Oats
- Vegan Apple Custard Squares
- apple cinnamon scones
- Homemade apple cider
Also a big heartfelt Thanks to all of you who Preordered my cookbook!! It fills my heart with joy to see so many of you supporting me!
Vegan Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the crust and the crumb:
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1/3 cup plus 1-2 tablespoons smooth almond butter
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
For the apple layer:
- 1 large honey crisp apple thinly sliced or about 2 cups of thinly sliced apples, or you can chop them into small pieces instead
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Make the crust: In a bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar and mix really well.
- Then warm up 1/3 cup of the almond butter and add it along with maple syrup, vanilla extract. Then mix using fork or your hands until the mixture is somewhere crumbly and when you press the mixture in your hand, it kind of stays together a little bit.
- If it is too floury, then add in 1-2 tablespoons more almond butter. You can also use 1-2 teaspoons of non-dairy milk in this crust mixture if it's too crumbly.
- Transfer half of this mixture to a parchment-lined 9 x 5 inch baking dish or loaf pan.
- Press it down until even. Once pressed, set this loaf pan aside.
- Make the filling: In a bowl, add the apple, maple syrup, sugar, zest of a lemon, cornstarch, and cinnamon and toss well to coat.
- Transfer these apples to the crust and even it out so that there are no pockets of space between apples.
- To the rest of the crust mixture, add in 2-4 teaspoons of maple syrup and then add more as needed. Mix until the mixture becomes like a muffin crumb topping kind of mixture.
- Then top the apples with this mixture and spread evenly. Bake at 365 degrees Fahrenheit (185 c) for a total of 40 to 45 minutes. Top the loaf pan with parchment after the first 25 minutes so that the crumb does not brown too much.
- Then remove from the oven. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan. Slice and serve.
Video
Notes
- Nutfree: use 3 tablespoons softened butter, 2 teaspoons flax meal mixed in 1.5 tablespoons water and mix in. Of the mix is not sticking together, add maple syrup 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Gluten-free: Use a mix of 1/3 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup oat flour(or a gf blend), 3 tablespoons potato starch(or other starch) instead of all purpose flour
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients:
- the base and crumble topping are made with all purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and vanilla extract
- smooth almond butter is used instead of butter or oil and lends the crust a nutty taste you will love
- maple syrup is added for sweetness
- for the apples, I like honey crisp as they are sweet and, well, crisp
- the filling is sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar
- lemon zest adds freshness to the filling
- cornstarch thickens the filling you can use tapioca or arrowroot as well
- cinnamon is a must-add in. If you want, add some apple pie spice
Tips:
- other great baking apples you could use here: Braeburn Jonagold and Gala
- for some extra“crunch”, try sprinkling a tablespoon or two of turbinado sugar over the crumble topping right before baking
- If you want, add some chopped walnuts or hazelnuts to the crumble topping
- Nutfree: use 3 tablespoons softened butter, 2 teaspoons flax meal mixed in 1.5 tablespoons water and mix in. Of the mix is not sticking together, add maple syrup 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Gluten-free: Use a mix of 1/3 cup almond flour, 1/3 cup oat flour(or a gf blend), 3 tablespoons potato starch(or other starch) instead of all purpose flour
How to make Vegan Apple Pie Crumble Bars:
Make the crust: In a bowl, add the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar and mix really well.
Then warm up 1/3 cup of the almond butter and add it along with the vanilla extract. Then mix using a fork or your hands until the mixture is somewhere crumbly and when you press the mixture in your hand, it kind of stays together a little bit.
If it is too floury, then add in 1-2 tablespoons more almond butter.You can also use 1-2 teaspoons of non-dairy milk in this crust mixture if it’s too crumbly.
Transfer half of this mixture to a parchment-lined 9 x 5-inch baking dish or loaf pan. Press it down until even. Once pressed, set this loaf pan aside.
In a bowl, add the apple, maple syrup, sugar, zest of a lemon , cornstarch, and cinnamon and toss well to coat.
Transfer these apples to the crust and even it out so that there aren’t pockets of too much space between apples.
To the rest of the crust mixture, add in 2-4 teaspoons of maple syrup or one tablespoon maple syrup and then add more as needed.
Mix until the mixture becomes like a crumb muffin, crumb topping kind of mixture.
Then top the apples with this mixture and spread evenly. Bake at 365 degrees Fahrenheit (185c) for a total of 40 to 45 minutes.
Top this loaf pan with parchment after the first 25 minutes so that the crumb does not brown too much.
Then remove from the oven. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove from the pan. Slice and serve.
Make an icing
You can also add icing on top before serving.
For the icing, take a 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. Add in a teaspoon or more water or non-dairy milk and mix in until icing consistency then drizzle all over.
Storage:
These bars are best the day they are made, but they can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Or, they can be frozen immediately after cooling
Non vegan husband approved! So good!
Good to hear!
So easy and more importantly, absolutely delicious! We inhaled the whole thing and my family didn’t know it is oil/butter free. Definitely will repeat often.
Wonderful to hear!
I didn’t like those very much the day they were made. The nutty taste was too strong for my taste. They were better the following day, cold from the fridge! But the almond butter taste is still too present and overpowers the apple flavour. I will try the nut-free version next time. The filling is delicious.
Yes try with some vegan butter or oil
Can I use Gluten Free flour in this recipe? if so, same amount as regular flour?
Should I substitute any other ingredients to make it Gluten Free AND Vegan?
Thank You!
See gf option in the notes section.
forgot to leave a rating with my previous comment
Hey there! In the first portion of the ingredient list, there is a mention of maple syrup that isn’t mentioned again in the recipe. Would you mind clarifying where this maple syrup is meant to be used?
Add it with the almond butter
made this for a get together this month, and everybody liked it! another simple and easy but very delicious recipe from vegan richa.
Yay
Loved this! I think using almond butter was genius in this. I only had the crunchy kind and it came out great!
Yay!
Loved the use of almond butter instead of margarine since I try to limit oils plus apples and almond butter are such a great combo.
🙂
First off I’ve made many of your recipes and love your blog! The apple pie bars look and sounds amazing but. I wanted to clarify your Nutfree option…. You say to use 3 T butter and 2 t flax and 1.5 T water (plus possible maple syrup) but this doesn’t come close to the 1/3 cup of nut butter. It’s more like 1/4 cup so will it be enough liquid? Can you sub some applesauce for the nut butter?
thank you! those amounts are correct – only If the mix is not sticking together, add maple syrup 1 teaspoon at a time.
Butter is more moist than almond butter so you’ll need a bit less