Are you drooling yet? :-). These delights are a combination of apple crisp and apple pie, made into bars for easier on the go indulging and for good measure, a healthy (or unhealthy!) drizzle of coconut caramel sauce. And then, just to take it up a level, the apple crisp topping isn’t just your average everyday crisp, it is peanut butter crisp and it is oh so good. Â If you know how good apples are dipped in peanut butter (and if you don’t you need to find out immediately) then imagine warm cinnamon-y apples with a crumbly peanut butter topping. And of course there is that caramel on top. It’s a little insane but the good kind of insane, the really yummy delicious kind :-).
The apples I used came from one of the old trees we have on the “farm” here in Vermont, a Red Astrachan. Â They are not an apple commonly found in the States so you should use your own favorite or use a combination of several types. Â My favorite apples for baking are Fuji, Pink Lady, Honey Crisp, Granny Smith and Jonagold.
Shared on the awesome Plant Based Potluck.
- Crust:
- ¾ cup coconut oil (melted)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Apple Filling:
- 6 large apples, peeled, cored and diced.
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- Peanut Butter Crisp:
- 1½ cups rolled oats
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup non-dairy butter, softened
- ½ cup crunchy peanut butter (it can also be smooth, but the crunchy adds a nice additional texture)
- Coconut Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy butter
- Preheat oven 325F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil.
- To make the crust: Mix all the crust ingredients together until well combined into a dough. Press into prepared pan, pierce all over with a fork and bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the caramel, apples and crisp.
- To make the caramel sauce (you can use as much or as little of this as you want on the bars): Combine the coconut milk and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often and keeping a watchful eye so it doesn't boil over. Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla, ginger and non-dairy butter. Let cool completely. You can use the sauce right away or if you want a thicker sauce, refrigerate for a couple hours. [Leftover Caramel Sauce can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks.]
- To prep the apples: Combine diced apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and flour , mix well and set aside.
- To make crisp: Combine oats, flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon and mix well. Â Using a pastry blender, forks or your fingers, rub the butter into the oats mixture until pea sized pieces. Â Add the peanut butter and work it in as well. (I use my hands to work in both the butter and peanut butter; it's super messy but so much easier that way].
- When the shortbread crust is done, spread the apples over evenly and then arrange the crisp on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until apples are soft and crisp is lightly browned.
- Cool completely then liberally pour caramel on top.
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![Simple Oatmeal Granola Bars [gluten-free!]](https://i0.wp.com/www.thelazyveganbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/granola-bars-2.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1)
Yum! I could eat one right now! 🙂
I am sending you one virtually! 🙂
Yum! 😛
Yum! I love any dessert with apples in it! I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your healthy and delicious Peanut Butter Apple Crisp Bars with Coconut Caramel Sauce with us at the Plant-Based Potluck Party Link Up. I’m pinning and sharing.
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I am seriously drooling right now! These look so good! I love how you made them into a bar – that much easier for portability. Yum =)
And you got the apples from your own apple tree? Talk about eating local ;p
Haha, yep keeping it local for sure :-). Thanks, portability was a very important consideration here!
These look awesome! Just got a whole bunch of fresh apples for free and I was looking for some vegan recipes to use them up. Can’t wait to give these a try! 😀
Thanks! Let me know if you make them, I love feedback. The Apple trees this year were producing tons – I was giving bags of apples free to everyone I knew too :-).