87 cal, 12C/2F/2P/6S.
The easiest and healthiest way to stuff your pie hole with apple pie and feel good about it. If you like apples, make these! There’s absolutely nothing in them that isn’t good for you and they’re low sugar yet they’re Plenty Sweet!
Here I am sitting belly full of healthy Apple Pie Bars on a Sunday morning and I’m one happy healthy mama. This is my favorite apple recipe this apple season. And apple season is the best. Seriously apple picking is my religious ritual.
Crust:
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (120 g)
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil or butter (28 g)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey (42 g)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour* such as all purpose, white whole wheat, oat or gf all purpose (120 g)
- 1 cup rolled oats (80 g)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Filling:
- 2 large sweet apples peeled cored diced small (about 400 g)
- 2 tbsp coconut or brown sugar (24 g)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Makes 16 squares. Preheat oven to 350F and line an 8×8 pan with parchment. Blend together applesauce, oil, syrup, vanilla (your coconut oil might seize up a bit as it meets the cold applesauce but that’s ok). Whisk together flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt. Combine with the wet ingredients, form a bar dough and press evenly into the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until firm to the touch in the center (cook time will depend on your flour of choice). Combine chopped apples with cinnamon and sugar (add a little lemon juice if you prefer tartness). Top the crust with the apple mixture (make sure to pack this in very tightly otherwise your apple layer may not stick) and bake another 30 minutes. Let the bars cool completely and ideally refrigerate overnight before slicing next day. If you prefer to be so fancy, drizzle 1 tbsp almond butter and sprinkle coarse sea salt before slicing.
(*) I have made these with almond flour and white whole wheat flour, both worked very well (nutrition info is based on white whole wheat). Almond flour was a tiny bit more moist and rich tasting but the wheat flour version was very good too! One reader tried coconut flour and their crust was too crumbly so I would refrain from coconut flour.
Hope you love this recipe and remember to tag me on instagram with your pictures!
Plenty Sweet 
I made a double batch of these for a bake sale at work, they came out great. I went with all purpose flour+baking soda, and used vegetable oil. The base was kind of like an oatmeal cookie. Delicious!
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I’m so glad this recipe worked well for you, and thank you so much for the feedback! ❤
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These are delicious. I used whole wheat for the crust and 15 min for the first round of baking. I used caramel (baking pieces melted with a bit of almond milk) to top instead of peanut butter, which holds it together better. Don’t forget the sea salt and definitely refrigerate to make it easier to cut. I also wish I would have cut the apple pieces smaller so they stay on better. Will make again.
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great tips! yes, the key to making them stick together without caramel or peanut butter is cutting the apple very small! thanks for giving this a try ❤️ i’ve been thinking about remaking them!
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