Guest Post by Tiffany, Don’t Waste the Crumbs
Ever since we went strawberry picking earlier this year, we’ve been making plans to go apple picking at the same orchard. Unfortunately, between homeschool, vacations, new jobs and still more trips to come, it just isn’t in the cards for us. Thankfully, my favorite farmer’s market is bursting with more fresh local apples than I can shake a stick at!
Fresh apples aren’t the only thing in season though. Two years ago we were introduced to a certain salted caramel beverage that appears each fall, and ever since, I’ve noticed recipes calling for that sweet-n-salty combo are all over the web. Although, I’m not a huge salted caramel fan (I prefer pumpkin spiced instead), there’s something about mixing salted caramel with fresh, crunchy apples that makes my mouth start to water!
I have to admit – devising a recipe for a primarily gluten-free crowd is not easy to do, especially when your family doesn’t avoid gluten. So after attempting this dessert twice, and coming up with failures each time, I decided to go back to the drawing board. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I based these bars off of a tried a true GF recipe – Kelly’s tasty almond flour snickerdoodles! I’ve transformed this cookie into a delicious GF bottom layer and crumble topping, while the center is filled with delicious apples bathed in sweet-n-salty caramel goodness!
For more delicious ideas for using homemade salted caramel, I invite you to pop on over to my place for visit. And please feel free to share a few of your tasty ideas as well!
Blessings, Tiffany at Don’t Waste the Crumbs
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 4 Tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups peeled and chopped apples, (approx 2 large apples, any variety)
- 2 Tbsp granulated organic evaporated sugar cane juice (or sucanat)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp arrowroot powder
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup homemade salted caramel, room temperature
- reserved 1/2 cup of bottom layer
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
Instructions
- Prepare a batch of homemade salted caramel. Allow it to cool while you make the rest of this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients of the bottom layer (almond flour, arrowroot, cinnamon and baking powder). Measure out 1/2 cup of dry mixture and set it aside for the crumble topping.
- Combine the wet ingredients of the bottom layer in a separate small bowl (coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla). Then add to the bottom layer dry ingredients and mix well. Allow the dough to sit for at least 30 minutes, up to two hours.
- Press the dough into the bottom of an 8x8-inch or 9x9-inch glass pan, ensuring the dough reaches the edges. The dough will be sticky, so use wet hands to help you spread it, if necessary.
- Using a fork, prick the dough throughout to allow steam to escape. Bake the dough for 7 minutes and remove from the oven.
- While the dough is baking, combine the apple filling ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over baked dough. (The bottom layer does not need to cool first.)
- Next, drizzle 1/4 to 1/3 cup of homemade salted caramel over the apples so that the apples are covered by a thin layer of caramel.
- Using your fingers, mix the reserved bottom layer mixture with one tablespoon of cold butter (or coconut oil), until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the salted caramel layer.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the juices from the apples begin to bubble through the top.
- Cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. (Note: The longer this stays in the fridge, the easier it will be to cut into bars. Serving sooner than three hours will likely not offer a rigid bar shape, but the dessert will still be delicious.)
Notes
Time-Saving Tip: In light of the upcoming holiday baking season, why not purposefully make extra snickerdoodle cookie dough and freeze it. That way when you're in the mood for these scrumptious salted caramel apple bars (which you will be if you continue to stare at the photo!), you can quickly whip up a batch in half the time! (By the way, doubling recipes is just one way I stay sane while homeschooling and trying to feed my family healthy food. It's a perfect example #2 in this list of ways to work smarter, not harder in the kitchen.)
Meet Tiffany!
Tiffany is a frugal foodie – passionate about feeding her family healthy food, while being a good steward of her family’s finances. She’s a homeschooling mother of two, loving wife to one and a child of God blessed in more ways than she can count. She shares her enthusiasm for affording real food without going broke, and documents her baby-sized strides at Don’t Waste the Crumbs. Join Tiffany and the Crumbs Community on Facebook or Google+ for encouragement and small, simple steps to healthier living.
So I was excited to make this and started looking at the ingredients. I was especially excited to see a recipe for homemade salted caramel. Unfortunately the salted caramel is not dairy free . Do you happen to have a dairy free salted caramel recipe so the salted caramel apple bars can be made dairy free?
Hi, Kristie. Yes, Elana’s Pantry has an excellent dairy-free caramel recipe you may enjoy. You can find it here: http://www.elanaspantry.com/vegan-caramel-sauce/ Many blessings, Kelly 🙂
Hi Kristie! You can also make your own DF cream (cashew works well) and sub for the half & half in the caramel. Start here for the recipe, http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2013/10/pumpkin-pie-spiced-non-dairy-creamer-no-dairy-gluten-or-soy/, and omit the pumpkin spices and maple syrup. 🙂