Apple Crumble Bars (Gluten Free)

A lovely treat when apples are in season, these easy apple crumble bars are a solid favourite. We use windfall apples from my Omi’s trees, since they can’t be stored or made into applesauce, and it’s become a bit of a tradition.

With a lightly sweet base and crumble topping made from the same dough, a date-sweetened apple filling, and a hint of warming spice, they are a special treat. The filling is also thickened with the dates and tastes vaguely caramelised.

Inspired by store bought apple pie granola bars, these make a great snack or light dessert. If you’re in a pinch or want to make them when apples are out of season, try adding apple butter as the filling instead of making your own.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

With autumn spices and a truly delicious apple filling, these are a wonderful dessert as cold weather starts to set in. They’re also almost entirely fruit sweetened and made with minimal ingredients.

• It’s a ten ingredient recipe: including water! These are ingredients you probably already have on hand (brown sugar can be used in place of coconut).
• The filling is instant apple butter: which is amazing, but usually takes hours to make – and you can have it ready in just a few minutes, with the shortcut of adding dates.
• It doubles as breakfast or dessert: like many of the recipes on OE, it’s light enough to have for breakfast or a snack but just sweet enough for dessert.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Rolled Oats: these are ground into a coarse flour, so feel free to use quick-cook if preferred. Use certified gluten-free oats if needed.
• Dates: soak the dates in very hot water for at least ten minutes before using for the crumble mixture if they’re hard. For the apple filling, it’s no problem if the dates are dry, as they’ll be cooked.
• Coconut Sugar: I find the texture is unpleasant for these bars when sweetened purely with dates, but a little coconut sugar makes all the difference.
• Coconut Oil: these require an oil that’s solid at room temperature for best results. Use refined coconut oil to avoid any slight flavour, or sub something like a good vegan butter.
• Non-Dairy Milk: I use oat milk, but any type will work. Don’t use canned coconut milk or cream.

Step by Step

1. Cook the apples: with the dates and juice or water, until softened.
2. Blend: use an immersion blender, or cool and blend in a small blender or food processor.

3. Make oat flour: blend the oats into a coarse flour.
4. Make the dough: add the other base/crumble ingredients and blend to combine.
5. Press: use two-thirds of the dough for the base layer, pressing very well.
6. Add filling: spread the apple filling into an even layer.

7. Top: crumble the remaining dough mixture over top.
8. Bake: for about 20 minutes, and cool fully before slicing.

Recipe Notes

I have tried making these with pre-ground oat flour, and they always turn out too dense and dry. Blending the oats into a coarse flour is ideal, and since you need a food processor for this recipe in any case, this is fine.

Tart apples are best if you have them. I use mostly boskoop for these bars, and really only make them in October and November when we have the apples from my Omi.

If you don’t have a square tin, feel free to use a rectangular one. Note that a larger tin will make for thinner bars – slightly smaller is better than too big.

Use gluten-free rolled oats to ensure the bars are fully GF if needed.

How to Store

Storage: keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days. They will stick to each other if stacked, and are best stored in a single layer.

Freezing: freeze for up to a month. For best results, freeze the bars in a single layer (for example, cut and then freeze in the tin) before transferring to an airtight container. They can be stacked after freezing through.

Expert Tips

• Chill before slicing: the filling is on the softer side, and things can get a bit messy if the bars are warm when sliced. For best results, freeze for a few minutes first or refrigerate for at least half an hour.
• Remove seeds: this seems obvious, but be sure to check your dates for seeds before cooking or blending. Sometimes even seedless dates will have one or two, and it can destroy a machine (or your teeth).
• Don’t add too much milk: only add a tablespoon of milk to the crumble base at first, and really blend, to make sure you’re not adding too much liquid. If it’s still not coming together, add a teaspoon at a time, blending between each addition. This depends on how much liquid is in the dates being used.

If you make these Apple Crumble Bars or any other snack recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

This post was first published in October 2017. It has been updated with slight changes to the recipe as of October 2021.