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Double the Streusel Apple Butter Bars. Because everyone knows the more streusel the better. These bars are SO GOOD. Fresh, in-season honey crisp apples, mixed with homemade apple butter, and topped with the most delicious, buttery and cinnamony streusel crumb topping. The perfect treat to celebrate autumn!
Starting the weekend off with a celebratory bar like these apple butter bars is just so perfect, especially for this particular Friday. To say that it’s been a really great productive would be an understatement.
If you guys have been reading and following along this week on both HBH and Instagram, then you know that we’ve been working on a huge shoot with Anthropologie in the new studio barn space. It was a long four-day shoot, but it was also amazing, and has me both elated and inspired. I cannot wait to share all the photos and videos we captured. The space looks stunning, the food was delicious, and I honestly feel so grateful and so excited.
It was a GOOD week! A fun, creative, and busy week, spent with an incredible team, in an incredible space, and with incredible weather. It could not have gone better. Going to share some more behind the scenes photos in Sunday’s Favorite’s post, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Fun photos to come!
In the meantime, I want to dive right in and start telling you guys about these bars.
One, these bars truly are one of the most mouth wateringly delicious apple bars I’ve tasted. And two, I’m a little bit exhausted from one of our longest shooting days of the week and ready for a shower, some food, and then my bed.
SO, let’s talk apple butter bars and get on with our weekend!
Details…because it’s all about the details.
As you can get from the recipe title, these bars are focused on two things, autumn apples and streusel. Lots and lots of streusel. If there’s one thing I love paired with a baked apples, it’s a good, buttery, cinnamony streusel. Just typing that out has my mouth watering.
To start, you’ll need to make the cinnamon and butter filled streusel base. It’s a pretty simple mix up of flour, oats, pecans, and a generous amount of both cinnamon and butter. Of course.
Press some of this streusel mix into a pan and pre-bake it. While that’s happening, make the apple filled center of the bars.
Around this time last year, I made my first batch of homemade apple butter and fell in love. So when the first batch of honey crisp apples arrived a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to make fresh apple butter again (except this time I made it in the instant pot…do you want the recipe?).
I made a double batch, with this recipe in mind, because the sound of an apple butter bar was just too good.
If you’ve never made homemade apple butter, this is the fall to do so. This sounds dramatic, but if you LOVE apples and jammy type spreads, then this apple butter will be life changing…
Anyway, I layered the pre-baked crust with a good amount my homemade apple butter, then I layered the fresh honey crisp apples over top of the apple butter. From here, I topped off the apples with a full layer of streusel and baked the bars in the oven until they were golden, bubbly, and smelling like all kinds of fall deliciousness.
Honestly, these are the BEST.
Buttery, apple filled, flavored with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, and topped with delicious and perfectly sweet streusel. Really, not much beats that. Enjoy warm or at room temperature, possibly alongside a mug of steaming hot coffee, cider…or maybe even your favorite pumpkin spiced latte?!?
Total and complete perfection.
Also? If you bake these up this weekend, your house is going to smell like fall, and trust me, it’s going to be amazing. Who’s down? Cool. Cool. Let’s bake!
See you all tomorrow for a fun Cocktail Saturday Post!
If you make these apple butter bars, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Double the Streusel Apple Butter Bars
Servings: 20
Calories Per Serving: 180 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups old fashion oats
- 1/2 cup raw pecans
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 sticks (1 cup) cold salted butter, cubed
Filling
- 1 cup apple butter, homemade or store bought
- 2 honey crisp apples, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cold salted butter, thinly sliced
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the flour, oats, pecans, brown sugar, baking powder and cinnamon, until the oats are mostly ground. Add the cold butter, pulse until a crumbly dough forms. If the dough seems dry, add 1 tablespoon water.3. Press 1/3 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Transfer to the oven and bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden.4. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a medium bowl, toss the apples with the maple syrup, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Spread the apple butter evenly over the pre-baked crust. Arrange the apples in an even layer over the apple butter. Sprinkle the remaining 2/3 streusel dough over top of the apples. Lay the butter sliced over the streusel. Return to the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crumble is a light golden brown. 5. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Keep stored in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
Too sweet for me, but maybe it was my store-bought apple butter, or the fact that I poured the extra apple coating over the apples? Whoops. I’m going to make it again, this time with tart apples, and with 2/3+ of the streusel on bottom. I tried so hard to make my apple layer pretty just to bury it! Everyone in the household likes it, so I just need to tweak it to the cook’s taste 🙂
Thanks for giving the recipe a try Miranda, let me know how it comes out next time! xTieghan
Really excited to make these! I am making ahead for Wednesday, can they be stored at room temp? Thank you!!
Hey Hannah,
You bet! Just keep in an airtight container on the counter. I hope you enjoy this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
For nut allergies, can you recommend a substitute for the pecan in the crust?
Hi Jessica! I would say omit the nuts completely and add some more oats in so the consistency of the crust doesn’t change too much 🙂 xTieghan
These look delicious, and I am looking forward to baking up a batch. Do you think these would freeze well? (Apologies if I missed this in the other comments.) I am looking for several items that I can bake/cook/prep ahead of time, so holidays are a bit more relaxing (especially this year). In addition, I’m an avid home canner and love the recipes you post that involve homemade preserves. So many uses for them other than just on toast!
Hey Lisa,
Sure you could freeze these! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I enjoyed being able to use up some apple supply with this recipe. Really tasty! It’s a plate & fork type of treat!
Hey Lindsey,
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, love to hear that it was enjoyed! Have the best week:) xTieghan
Hi Tiegen,
These look amazing! I’m planning on making either these or the brown butter blondies with cinnamon maple glaze for dessert this evening, hard to pick between the two! I’m wondering if I could make either of the bars ahead and then keep in the fridge before baking? Thank you so much!
Hey Kristin,
Sure that would work with both, just bring back to close to room temp before baking! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Just went apple picking so super excited to try these! Do you have a substitute for apple butter? Can I just use plain butter and if so, should it be at room temp?
Thanks much for what is sure to be yet another winner!
Hey Ellen,
So sorry, I haven’t tested this recipe without the apple butter and I am afraid you would lose some of the apple flavoring. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan