Apple Shortbread Bars

Apple Shortbread Bars are layered dessert bars with a shortbread crust and a layer of spiced apples covered and baked with crumble topping. It’s the perfect holiday dessert that should definitely be added to your Autumn menu! This dessert starts with my perfected shortbread recipe. Then, a layer of spiced apples from my apple crisp recipe is layered on top of the shortbread. Finally, the crumble topping is added and baked to a golden brown. As an added touch of flavor, you could drizzle some caramel sauce over the top of the baked bars.

Ingredients:
Shortbread:
1¾ cups (219 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
⅔ cup (150 g) superfine sugar (caster sugar)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, cold, cubed

Apple Mixture:
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (about 3½ cups)
½ cup (62.5 g) light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumble Topping:
½ cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (67 g) light brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cubed

Instructions:
Shortbread:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt until combined.
Place the butter cubes in the flour mixture. Mix by hand until the dough is light yellow in color and small crumbs form, rubbing any remaining butter bits into the flour mixture.
Press the shortbread mixture firmly and evenly into the lined pan. Using a fork, pierce dough at 1-inch intervals.
Bake for 15 minutes. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the apple mixture and the crumble topping.

Apple Mixture:
Place sliced apples in a bowl. Add brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir gently, making sure every piece of apple is coated in the sugar mixture.

Crumble Topping:
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon until combined.
Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture. Using your hands or a fork, mix the butter into the flour mixture until the butter pieces are pea-sized or smaller.

Assembly:
Once the shortbread crust has baked for the 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Top the crust with the apple mixture.
Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apple mixture.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown.
Allow the bars to cool to room temperature, then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least two hours before serving.
Serve drizzled with caramel. (optional)

Please follow & like us: