These Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars are a delicious combination of an apple pie and an apple crisp!

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

These gluten-free apple pie shortbread bars and simple to make and are yummy with or without the gooey drizzle on the top.

Without the drizzle:

Here’s how it came together. Using my KitchenAid stand mixer, I made the gluten-free shortbread and pressed it into the bottom of a parchment-lined 8 x 8 baking dish. While I baked the shortbread for 15 minutes, I assembled the apple filling in a large bowl and spiced up the apple slices with ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a little gluten-free flour.

I also had time to make the crumb topping mixture with melted butter, brown sugar and gluten-free flour. I like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1- Baking Flour for this recipe.

Once  the shortbread was finished baking, I topped it with half of the crumb mixture, added the sliced apple mixture, and then completed it with the remainder of the topping. I baked it for 45 minutes and then let it cool for a few hours before refrigerating it overnight.

The next day, after it was set, I lifted it out of the pan and cut it into bars. I made a quick drizzle with powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and decorated the bars. This last step is totally optional, but I like a little gooey drizzle just to top it off.

Result? Seriously apple pie slash apple crisp heaven!

What would make this over-the-top? A scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! Sadly, I did not get that shot before the bars were consumed! But you can just pretend you see that scoop sitting on top…right? 😉

Try these Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars this fall (or anytime) and let me know how you like them!

Looking for more gluten-free yummy brownies and bars? You may like these, too:

Gluten-free Cherry Chocolate Blondie Bars
Gluten-free Almond Butter and Chocolate Chip Blondies
Flourless Chocolate Brownies

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

 

Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 9-12

Ingredients

• Shortbread
• ½ cup unsalted organic butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup organic sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
• 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
• Apple Filling
• 3 organic apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 Tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour
• 2 Tablespoons organic brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Topping
• ½ cup gluten-free flour
• ¾ cup organic brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup organic butter, melted or at room temperature to cut in
• Drizzle
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
   
   
2. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure and bring the parchment up the sides so it will be easy to lift out later when you’re ready to cut the bars.
   
   
3. Shortbread Base
4. Using a stand mixer, place butter in bowl and mix on high for at least 5 minutes . Butter should be more white than yellow at this point; that's how you'll know it's creamed.
   
   
5. Add sugar, vanilla, and salt to the butter and combine.
   
   
6. Once combined, add in the gluten-free flour and mix well.
   
   
7. Press the mixture into the parchment lined pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
   
   
8. Apple Filling
9. In a large bowl, combine the apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Make sure all the apples are well coated.
   
   
10. Crumb Topping
11. Mix the gluten-free flour and ¾ cup brown sugar. Cut in the butter with a fork until crumble-like consistency is achieved.
    
    
12. Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350° F.
    
    
13. Sprinkle half of the crumb topping over the short bread and then layer the apples on top.
    
    
14. Finally, sprinkle the remainder of the crumb topping on top and place in the oven to bake for 45 minutes. Because oven temperatures vary, you may need to bake yours a little longer. You want to make sure the apples are tender. Test with a fork.
    
    
15. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully (at least a few hours) before covering and placing in the refrigerator overnight to set.
    
    
16. Once it's set, remove from baking dish by lifting out the parchment paper and cutting into bars.
    
    
17. Drizzle
18. Sift powdered sugar into bowl. Add milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
    
    
19. Drizzle mixture over bars and let set before serving.

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The warm, melty chocolate and sweet cherry flavor make these easy Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars a family favorite. Gluten-free version included.

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

You can use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, as I did here, or use conventional all-purpose flour. Same deliciousness, either way!

If you’re like me, you’re seeing cherries everywhere right now. I picked up these gorgeous Bing cherries at the market and immediately began thinking about how to use them. Not too long ago, I came across Averie’s cherry blondie recipe and decided to try it with these Bing cherries. With just a few tweaks, and using gluten-free flour, it was a success! Her base recipe is the perfect vehicle for these lovely Bing cherries. Thanks, Averie!

And, of course, you’ll need chocolate chips to go with the cherries.

Make sure you pit the cherries first. It can be messy, so take care to wear an apron and clean up any cherry juice immediately. That stuff will stain! You’ll need just a cup of pitted cherries, so it really won’t take long to pit that amount. I rough chopped the cherries after I pitted them, leaving large chunks. I find this works better in this type of recipe.

Putting the recipe together is easy. It’s one bowl, no mixer – hooray! Melt butter, stir in sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, salt, and flour. Lightly fold in chocolate chips and cherries, pour into baking dish and bake.

The hardest part is waiting for the blondie bars to cool. You really must do this. If you try to cut before cooling, you won’t get a lovely bar. It will still be yummy, but the cooling process will help “set” the whole thing.

These bars are crazy-good and I may need to make another batch – they were gobbled up quickly!

The next day, I warmed one up in the microwave and then added a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Now that’s how to consume these beauties!

Let me know how your batch turns out!

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars (Gluten-Free)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Cherry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars (Gluten-Free) (Adapted from Averie Cook's recipe)

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 9

Ingredients

• 1 cup cherries, pitted and cut into large chunks
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted (if using salted butter, omit adding salt later in recipe)
• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt (add only if you used unsalted butter)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
   
2. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper, and butter it well. Set aside.
   
   
3. Pit cherries and rough-chop into large chunks. Set aside
   
   
4. Use microwave to melt butter in medium-sized bowl.
   
   
5. Add in brown sugar and stir to combine.
   
   
6. Add egg and vanilla; stir to combine.
   
   
7. Add in flour, cinnamon, and salt; stir to combine. Avoid over-mixing, otherwise you'll get tough blondies.
   
   
8. Gently fold in cherries and chocolate chips.
   
   
9. Pour batter into pan and smooth out evenly.
   
   
10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges begin to pull away from pan.
    
    
11. Remove from oven and let cool for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
    
    
12. Blondies will keep at room temperature for a few days (covered and sealed), and up to a week in the refrigerator (covered and sealed).

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