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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: 1546 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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.
These were incredible!! Really one of the very best Fall desserts ever. The homemade apple butter from your recipe is a must have and the streusel was amazing. I made them GF so I had to bake the crust about 5 minutes longer and same for the assembled dessert. I didn’t use all the streusel as it was already piled on but the dessert turned out perfect. I used the streusel on some muffins I made the next day and it was great there too!
Thank you so much for trying out this recipe! Hope you enjoyed! xT
Making them right now. Replaced pecans with a pecan/peanut mixture because it was cheaper than pecans. But it smells amazing so far. I will let you know how they come out
Definitely a hit. Thanks for the recipe 😀
Hi HBH,
If I am making these two days before should I keep them in the fridge after baking? And should I heat them up before serving? Let me know.
Thanks!
Hey Kayla,
You can keep these in an airtight container on the counter and if you want to heat them up you can otherwise they are great at room temp. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
These bars are fabulous! I used a bit less brown sugar (1/4 cup), but that was the only change I made. I had company for dinner. They liked them too and were happy to have some to take home. This recipe is definitely one to repeat.
Hi Edith,
Happy Monday!! 🍁 Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xT
Can i get away without the nuts, if possible?Or is there a nut free substitution?
Hi Ama,
You could skip the nuts:) Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xT
These are so good! I made them exactly as written and they are perfect. Not too sweet and so flavorful. I made mine with a locally made apple butter. I didn’t have an issue with them falling apart—I made sure to press down on the top layer of streusel before baking and mine stayed in tact. I will definitely make these again. 🙂
Hi Mallory,
Happy Monday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was tasty for you! Thanks for making it:) xx
while the flavor was good, my bars didn’t hold together. Also the pictures above show a sprinkling of topping over the apples. 2/3 of topping is ALOT. Mine was smothered in topping. Not a bad thing if it had held together. I did use GF flour, so maybe that was why?
Hi Paula,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, sorry to hear you had some issues. I think the gluten free flour is why they fell apart, it’s much more delicate than all purpose flour. Happy Sunday! xx
These were a hit. I forgot the apple butter and took off as much streusel and spread the apple butter. Then, spread the streusel again and cooked them. It worked fine. These cut like a bar cookie when they were cold. Definitely a keeper.
Hey Anne,
Love it!!🤩 So glad to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xx
This is delicious. I had to do the butter mixture in two batches because the food processor was too full. Also, it even works if the Apple butter is put on top of the apples (oops).
Hey Anne,
I am so glad to hear that this recipe was tasty for you and appreciate you giving it a try! xxT
Are the calories correct on this recipe? 1190 just sounds high, but want to be sure before I make them!
Hey Meaghan,
I always recommend that if the nutritional information is important to you, you use your own personal calculator. Ours is automatic and controlled by google. It’s not something we’d prefer to be using. We are required to. I’m sorry for the trouble, we do our best! Hope you enjoy the recipe! xT
A great fall dessert that left my home smelling great!!
Hey Marlaina,
Happy Monday!! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks for making it:) xTieghan
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