Healthy Apple Pie Bars

Imagine your favorite apple pie, but that it is easy to make, it is healthy, gluten free, nut free, refined sugar free, and still just as delicious!  Would you believe it?  Well with these healthy apple pie bars you get the best of both worlds.

Apple pie is an all time fall favorite am I right?! What about apple pie that is 100x easier to make, is gluten free, refined sugar free, vegan, and still SO DELICIOUS?  Well let me present you with these healthy apple pie bars.  I love them because they are so easy to make, they are allergen friendly, and they are easy to share with a crowd!  And trust me when I say, everyone will love them 😉

For other fun apple pie spinoffs be sure to check out my single serve apple crisp, and my apple spice hand pies. 

Ingredients You’ll Need for Healthy Apple Pie Bars:

  • Tahini – I used tahini instead of a nut butter for the base of the bar so that this is a nut free dessert recipe.  You could also sub with a natural peanut butter or almond butter if you prefer!
  • Maple syrup, agave, and stevia – I used maple syrup in the base of the bar and agave in the apple pie filling to sweeten our bars without any refined sugar.  You could definitely do all of one or the other if you don’t want to use both.  You could also probably swap for honey if you prefer that, as long as you don’t need these to be vegan. I also used a little stevia in the base, which is optional, because the maple syrup wasn’t making it quite sweet enough for my liking and I didn’t want to mess with the texture.  If you add the syrup and you taste it and want it sweeter, just add a solid sweetener (Stevia, monk fruit, coconut sugar, cane sugar) so it doesn’t get too wet.  But add as much as you need to your preference!
  • Oats – we use barely any flour in this recipe, the base of the bar is mostly made of oats!  And what I love is we aren’t even grinding them into oat flour so you get the benefit of eating the oat whole and in tact.
  • Gluten free all purpose flour – we use just a little flour to help the bars stay together.  You could sub this for oat flour if you only have oats and don’t want to buy any flour.
  • Coconut flour – a couple tablespoons is all you need but I love the texture and flavor coconut flour adds.
  • Apples – can’t have apple pie bars without fresh apples! I like to leave the skins on mine both for the color and the added fiber but you can peel them if you want.  And also I do suppose if you don’t want to dice up some fresh apple you could use a prepared apple pie filling instead!
  • Spices – I used salt, stevia, cinnamon, and nutmeg to give this all the fall flavors.

And that is it!  If you have any other questions about the ingredients or substitutions feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post.

Tips for the Perfect Healthy Apple Pie Bars:

There is no time around the holidays to have to make a recipe multiple times before it comes out right, so here are my best tips to get the perfect batch the first time!

  • Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty – the dough is pretty thick and I think the best way to ensure you have everything mixed together really well is to use your hands – you don’t have to though!
  • You could swap out the agave for more maple syrup or the maple syrup for more agave if you are going to the store for the ingredients and want to buy one less thing.  I like the agave in the apple filling because it makes it a little sweeter, the maple syrup is a little more subtle.  So you can use that as guidance if you are choosing just one!
  • You could also omit the stevia if you want to, I just wanted my dough a little bit sweeter than it was getting with the maple syrup alone, but I didn’t want to mess with the texture by adding more liquid.
  • Peeling your apples is optional – I didn’t do it because it adds more color and keeps some good fiber in the recipe, but that is up to you!
  • If your topping isn’t crumbling well – just sprinkle some coconut sugar on top to dry it out a little bit.
  • Served best warm with a dollop of ice cream 😉

If you have questions on anything I didn’t cover please don’t hesitate to reach out, I am here to help!  You can do so by leaving your question in a comment below or shooting me a message on Instagram.

In addition to the listed ingredients, you will need:

  • an 8×8 pan
  • parchment paper
  • 2 bowls
  • something to mix with

Enjoy!

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apple pie bars

Healthy Apple Pie Bars


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  • Author: Megan
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: one 8x8 pan 1x
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

Gluten Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free, Nut Free

Imagine your favorite apple pie, but now imagine that it is easy to make, it is healthy, gluten free, nut free, refined sugar free, and still just as delicious!  Would you believe it?  Well with these healthy apple pie bars you get the best of both worlds.


Ingredients

Scale

Crust & Crumble:

  • 1 cup tahini
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2 cups gluten free oats
  • 1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tsp coconut flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1.5 tsp stevia (optional)

Apple Pie Filling:

  • 2 medium apples, diced
  • 2 tbsp agave
  • 1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Combine your tahini and maple syrup in a bowl and stir until well combined.
  3. Add in the oats, gluten free flour, 2 tbsp of coconut flour, salt, and 1 tsp stevia.  I used my hands to really make sure all of the ingredients were well combined. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
  4. While the dough is getting ready, make your apple pie filling.  Core and dice your apples (peeling is optional), and combine in a small bowl with the agave, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix until apples are evenly coated.
  5. When your dough is ready, take a little more than half and press it down in an even layer in a 8×8 baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  If you’ve kept your hands clean thus far, this is when I’d recommend getting them out and dirty.  Using your hands to pat it down is easiest. Then pour your apples on top, and press them down just slightly.
  6. Then, take your remaining dough, and using the side of a fork, chop it into crumbles.  Add 1 tsp of coconut flour to evenly coat (this helps it stay crumbly and not too wet), and an additional 1/2 tsp stevia for sweetness, if desired.  Top the apples with the crumble.
  7. Bake for 40 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  Let cool completely before removing from pan.

Notes

I don’t peel my apples because the skin doesn’t bother me and it retains a lot of fiber.  But you can peel if you prefer!

This recipe is a nut free adaptation of Broma Bakery’s healthy apple crumb bars.

  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/9 of pan

2 Comments

  1. Hello! In the “Healthy Apple Pie Bars” do you mean rolled oats? I am assuming you do. I ask because we eat steel-cut oats – would that work?

    Thank you

    BTW, we use your Stroganoff recipe all the time – Quick and soooo easy, I love it! Do you have any more recipes like that one? 🙂

    • Liz Thomson

      I recommend using rolled oats or old fashioned oats. Quick cooking oats can work in a pinch but unfortunately steel cut oats don’t work because they take much longer to soften. I hope that helps! I’m so glad you like the stroganoff!

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