Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars
I absolutely love the fall season! Apples are finally ripe on the tree and it’s time to pull out the cinnamon and nutmeg to make something delicious. These Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars are so easy to make with a simple press in shortbread crust. They are loaded with apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg then topped with a crisp streusel topping and vanilla glaze. YUM!
Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars
I absolutely love the fall season! Apples are finally ripe on the tree and it's time to pull out the cinnamon and nutmeg to make something delicious. These Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars are so easy to make with a simple press in shortbread crust. They are loaded with apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg and then topped with a crisp streusel topping and vanilla glaze. YUM!
Ingredients
Apple Pie Filling
- 16 Cups Diced Apples (about 16 Medium sized Apples)
- 2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
- 4 Tbsp Freshly Milled Flour
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Shortbread Crust
- 1 Cup Butter, softened
- 1/2 Cup White Sugar
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups Freshly Milled Soft White Flour (mill 2 cups soft white wheat berries, use 2 cups flour for shortbread and save remailing 3/4 cup for streusel topping)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Streusel Topping
- 1/2 Cup White Sugar
- 3/4 Cup Freshly Milled Soft White Flour
- 1/2 Cup Butter, cold
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
Vanilla Glaze
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Milk
Instructions
- Line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside.
- Begin by milling 2 cups soft white wheat berries. Once milled, you will use 2 cups flour for the shortbread crust, 3/4 cup flour for the streusel topping, and 4 Tablespoons flour for the apple pie filling. Set aside.
- Begin by preparing apples. Peel and dice apples and place in microwaveable bowl. Cook apples for 6 minutes in the microwave. Pour apples into a colander and let drain and cool for 10 minutes while you prepare shortbread crust.
- While apples are cooling prepare shortbread crust. In a large bowl, soften butter. Mix in sugar and vanilla until smooth. Stir in flour and salt until all ingredients are incorporated. Mixture will be sticky.
- Lightly flour your hands and press crust into bottom of pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together slightly cooled and drained apples with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and flour. Mix until apples are evenly coated.
- Pour apples over crust and evenly distribute. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Using a pastry cutter, cut in cold, cubed butter. Mixture will be crumbly. Stir in chopped pecans.
- Evenly sprinkle streusel mixture over the top of the apples.
- Bake apple pie bars at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Apple pie bars will be bubbly and top will be golden and slightly crisp. Streusel topping will continue to crisp as it cools.
- Let bars cool completely before serving. I like to let the pan cool on a wire rack for about an hour before transferring to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight to chill.
- Once bars have cooled, in a small bowl mix together powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Drizzle over the top using a spoon or a piping bag.
- Serve cold by themselves or with vanilla ice cream.
Notes
The perfect treat for fall baking!
All year long I watch our apple trees first begin to bud, then flower into fragrant apple blossoms, develop cute little baby apples, and before I know it, it’s the end of September/October and the apple preservation season has begun!
Our two trees have some years where they produce abundance and other years where they produce just enough for a few tasty treats and some snacking apples. Some years my canner is filled with applesauce and other years I’m savoring every tasty apple treat we can squeeze out from the tree!
Apple pie bars with a press in crust!
Apple pie bars are great because they require minimal effort with a simple press in crust. It’s a tender, buttery crust that won’t make you miss a tradition pie crust. Simply mix and press crust into the pan – no chilling or rolling the crust out in this recipe!
A fall dessert that feeds a crowd!
The perfect dessert for fall family gatherings or potlucks, these apple pie bars easily feed a crowd! Fall flavors abound in these apple pie bars that are loaded with fresh apples and bursting with cinnamon and nutmeg! Everyone is going to love them!
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Perfectly layered apple pie filling!
It’s hard to find an apple pie filling that beats these bars! We dice the apples in this recipe making each apple perfectly coated in sugar/cinnamon mixture. This also ensures the apples don’t under or overcook! The sauce these apples produce is oozy and dreamy!
Streusel topping!
Who doesn’t love streusel topping? This finishes off the freshly milled apple pie bars perfectly making them an easy dessert with no crust to roll out. It’s an elevated dessert with a buttery, cinnamon-sugar crisp top!
Apple pie bars with freshly milled flour!
This recipe uses freshly milled flour because we love the added health benefits as well as buttery, nuttiness it adds to the flavor of this crust. Looking for more freshly milled desserts and baked goods? Check out our other recipes here.
What are the best apples for freshly milled apple pie bars?
The short answer is ANY apples you have. We try not to make things complicated over here.
- A crisp, tart apple is always the best. A crisp apple won’t get mushy while baking and a tart apple won’t be too sweet when combined with the sugar in this recipe.
- However, any fresh apples will make delicious apple pie bars. We like to use what we have and we especially love to use what’s growing in our backyard. Feel free to experiment with your own apples to find what works for your family!
- Sometimes using a few different varieties of apples will give your apple pie bars a depth of flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions To Make Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars:
- Step one: I love to begin by milling my grains first. For this recipe, mill 2 cups soft white wheat.
- Step two: Next, peel and dice apples. I slightly cook and drain my apples before mixing them with cinnamon/sugar mixture to ensure that the bars don’t become soggy while baking.
- Step three: While apples are draining and slightly cooling, prepare shortbread crust.
- Step four: Then, press crust mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan.
- Step five: Next, mix together apple pie filling ingredients and pour it over shortbread crust.
- Step six: Then, mix together streusel topping ingredients and crumble over top of apples.
- Step seven: Bake Freshly Milled Apple Pie Bars at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until bars are bubbling and top is slightly crisp.
- Step eight: Finally, allow bars to cool completely and then chill in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight before topping with vanilla icing.
Made these muffins just as directed (except vegan, using oatmilk) & they’re delicious! Fresh, tasty, moist, just the way we like them! Highly recommend.
Hello Cheri,
So happy to hear this recipe turned out delicious for you! It is also great to hear that those substitutions worked out as well. Happy Fresh Milled Baking!
-Megan and Amanda