These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free with a vegan option! All the flavor of apple pie without the lengthy prep? Sign me up! The crust comes together quickly by using a gluten-free cake mix to make a simple but crumbly and delicious crust. The filling is an easy apple pie filling and all of it is made and in the oven with under 25 minutes of hands-on prep. Take it up a notch by topping with my Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream!
Easy Apple Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 gluten-free vanilla or yellow cake mix
- 2 cups gluten-free quick oats
- 1 cup melted ghee or vegan butter
- 3 cups apples, peeled and chopped into small 1/2" pieces use a firm, tart apple like granny smith
- 6 tablespoons coconut sugar or other granulated sugar like monk fruit or maple sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg optional
- 1 1/2 tablespoon arrowroot flour or potato starch
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the cake mix, oats, and melted ghee. Stir until just combined. Mixture should be crumbly.
- In a medium pot, combine chopped apples, sugar, water, spices, and vanilla. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Apples should be starting to get tender.
- Combine the arrowroot flour or potato startch with 1 1/2 tablespoons water in a small bowl.This is called a "slurry." Add the slurry to the apple mixture, stirring to combine. Cook, stirring regularly until mixture thickens. This will only take around 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Add half of the cake mix mixture to the bottom of the pan, pressing it around until the bottom of the pan is covered, adding a little more mixture if needed.
- Spread the apple mixture evenly over the bottom crust. Crumble remaining cake mix mixture on top of the apples. Press the crust crumbles gently down into the apples.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes. Bars will hold their shape best when cooled completely. Stor in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 mnoths.
Notes
These are excellent topped with my Paleo Vanilla Ice Cream!
Another winner! So simple to make, and turned out beautifully. I forgot the vanilla, but still think it tasted well – I personally would possibly chop up a little more apple next time, just to fill it out even more.
This was enjoyed by all at a group meal tonight, and our friends who need gluten free especially said they enjoyed it! It is so nice to have a dessert for a special meal that everyone can eat.
I love that it was a winner for all involved and both easy and delicious. Thank you!
This Thanksgiving I was looking for something to replace my favorite apple pie recipe since going gluten-free. I knew I could count on Autumn! Thank you! I added some fresh cranberries to more closely mimic the original recipe I was missing. Yum.
Autumn, Thank you so much for this one. I have been wanting to make it for weeks and finally got to it today. It is a huge hit in our household! It was incredibly easy and so full of flavor. I used maple sugar, because it is what I had on hand, and I added a squeeze of lemon juice. Also opted in with the nutmeg because I always use that in my apple pies. So good!
I’m so happy you and your family enjoyed this one Julie! Thank you for sharing what swaps you used and enjoyed.
This is an extremely easy recipe to put together. That is what makes Autumn’s recipes so amazing. She uses real ingredients that “real” people have on hand in their pantry. The prep time was on point it took me about 20 min to prep and the cooking apples made my house smell amazing!
Thank you! EASY accessible recipes are so important to me. I’m happy this was a quick recipe that you enjoy, thanks!
I had a bunch of apples I needed to use up from apple picking and I had this random box of gluten-free cake mix that I usually never buy (found at Aldi & I thought I would try but never did) sitting in my pantry so it was a perfect recipe to pop up on my feed today! One thing to note, The recipe says to mix vanilla in with the apples but there is no measurement for vanilla in the recipe. I just threw a teaspoon in there but wanted to give you a head up! Also I’m glad I opted for the nutmeg! Great flavor and awesome easy recipe!