Salted Caramel Apple Crumb Bars

Oh my. Yum. That's about all there is to say about this dessert. Please believe me when I say you NEED to make these salted caramel apple bars. You'll be so glad you did. They would be a wonderful variation on Apple Pie for a Thanksgiving celebration later this month. Or they are good just because, too. There are only a few variations below to the original recipe.

Salted Caramel Apple Crumb Bars

You will need one recipe of this Caramel Sauce, following the variation for making it salted. If you don't have sea salt or don't like salted caramel, these bars are good with plain caramel sauce as well. 

Apple Filling:
5 cups peeled and diced apples (I try to find tart ones)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves or allspice
1/4 tsp salt

Toss apples with lemon juice. Mix together sugar, flour, salt, and spices and add onto apples, tossing gently to coat. Set aside.

Pastry Crust: 
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats (or you can use all flour)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla (opt)

Stir together flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender, two knives, or your hands, cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until it is small and course. Mix in the egg and vanilla. In a greased 9x13 casserole dish, press down half the pastry mixture. Pour the apples and any juice they have made on top of the pastry dough and spread evenly. Drizzle about half of your salted caramel sauce over the apples (~1/2 cup). Crumble the other half of your dough over the top and lightly press down. Bake at 375F (195C) for about 45 minutes. It is done when the pastry top is golden brown.  Allow to cool before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed with more of the salted caramel sauce drizzled over the top.