With an apple slab pie, you can cut and serve so many pieces to give out to friends and families at parties and gatherings. It’s a million times more convenient than cutting and scooping out traditional pie slices (and much less messy too!)

Caramel Apple Slab Pie recipe

It turned into a delicious cross between apple crisp, apple pie, and my apple dessert bars. I used my favorite oatmeal pie crust as it makes this dish feel complete.

What Kind of Apples Should I Use?

You can use any apples, but specifically choosing harder and more tart baking apples like Granny Smith, HoneyCrisp or Pink Lady is a great idea. They’ll add a nice flavor of tang to offset the sweetness of everything else and will taste incredible!

Can I Use Quick Oats in this recipe?

Yes, you can. Just know that the quick oats have a slightly different texture than Old Fashioned rolled oats and will make the crust feel a little softer. Other than that, they’ll work great!

Apple Pie Bars Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe:

-all-purpose flour: you can also use bread flour if you prefer!

-Old Fashioned oats:

-baking powder, salt, nutmeg, ground cinnamon: these are for adding flavor and leavening

-brown sugar

-shortening: the pie crust uses both shortening and butter for a fantastic blend of flavor and texture for the pie crust

-butter: you’ll use butter in both the pie crust that goes on the bottom of the pan as well as in the crumb topping. I prefer salted butter in this recipe!

-an egg, vinegar & ice water- helps the texture of the pie crust be amazing!

-about 7-8 apples, peeled, cored & sliced: see my notes about what apples are best above!

-chopped walnuts or pecans: such a delicious addition!

How to Make Apple Pie Bars

Here’s how To Make The Pie Crust:

In a bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Cut in shortening. Add small pieces of butter while continuing to mix. {I just tossed it all in my Kitchenaid and mixed it using the whisk.}

How to make the apple pie filling

Toss everything into a large bowl and stir to combine. I opted to add it all to a ziplock bag, closed it, then shook it around. It worked great! Let the apples sit in the fridge until you’re ready for them.

How to make the crumb topping

Combine all of the ingredients until crumbly using a pastry cutter, 2 forks, or whatever you think will work!

How To Assemble the Dessert:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, mix up the pie crust. Spray a 9×13 or 8×12 glass baking dish with cooking spray.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the pie crust dough into a 10-inch rectangle that’s about 1/4″ thick. Wrap it around the rolling pin and unroll it into the prepared baking pan.

Ease dough into the pan and up the sides. It sounds more difficult than it really is! Make adjustments around the edges of the crust by trimming from a too-long edge and filling in on a shorter edge. Make the crust go all the way up to the top of the sides as it will shrink down a bit after baking.

Take a fork and poke about 10 times along the bottom of the dish.

Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

After crust is done with the preliminary baking, dump the apple mixture on top of the baked crust. Spread evenly. Sprinkle with Crumb Topping (pan will be full).

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the apples are tender. If necessary to prevent over-browning, cover the top with foil for the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, caramel topping and serve.

Can I Freeze Apple Slab Pie?

Yes, you could. If you have your slab pie in a freezer friendly container that is airtight, you can freeze your pie for up to 3 months! Just let it thaw overnight in the fridge and warm it up before serving. Yum!

Crumb topped apple pie bars are a tasty and innovative way to serve up your favorite apple pie flavors. Apple Pie Bars topped with a buttery crumble & drizzled with caramel for a fantastic take on a classic apple pie! Perfect baked apples recipe for a no-fuss alternative to apple pie. Apple pie bars are easier to make, simple to serve and everyone loves them!