These Gluten-Free Apple Pie Shortbread Bars are a delicious combination of an apple pie and an apple crisp!
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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
- 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
- Preheat oven to 300° F.
- 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.
- Shortbread Base
- 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.
- Add sugar, vanilla, and salt to the butter and combine.
- Once combined, add in the gluten-free flour and mix well.
- Press the mixture into the parchment lined pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
- Apple Filling
- In a large bowl, combine the apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. Make sure all the apples are well coated.
- Crumb Topping
- Mix the gluten-free flour and ¾ cup brown sugar. Cut in the butter with a fork until crumble-like consistency is achieved.
- Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to 350° F.
- Sprinkle half of the crumb topping over the short bread and then layer the apples on top.
- 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.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully (at least a few hours) before covering and placing in the refrigerator overnight to set.
- Once it's set, remove from baking dish by lifting out the parchment paper and cutting into bars.
- Drizzle
- Sift powdered sugar into bowl. Add milk and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle mixture over bars and let set before serving.
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