Your dessert table deserves these delicious vegan apple crisp bars.
My hack to desserts people actually love for you to show up with are things they can eat by just grabbing. I know it may sound simple, but while everyone loves cakes and pies, they really love when they can just grab and keep going.
Not only can you do that with these bars, but they are truly decadent and delicious!
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love Apple Crisp Bars
- Handheld – Apple Pie + Apple Crisp but in handheld form. It’s absolutely the best of both worlds.
- Flavor – This needs simple ingredients, but comes with big flavor. You will love how it all comes together. Especially if you pair it with the caramel drizzle.
- Ease – This recipe is simple to make! It’s perfect for when you want a quick dessert or you need something last minute!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
Vegan Apple Crisp Bars Ingredients
Gather your ingredients:
Apples
Just like in apple pie, granny smith apples are best for this recipe since they are firm and don’t get mushy when baked. Their tart taste also balances the sugar and spice.
Substitute: Pink Lady could also be used. Alternatively, you could also do this with pears.
Oats
You want to make sure you are using rolled oats for the best texture at the end. Oats help with the texture and mouthfeel.
Substitute: Quick oats can be replaced, only in a pinch, but often times can absorb liquid more quickly or cook faster. We only recommend this if a must.
All-Purpose Flour
You’ll need flour for both the shortbread crust and the crisp topping. A simple flour is all you need for the perfect bars.
Substitute: Gluten-free 1:1 flour can also be used.
Lemon
The lemon helps to balance the tart and sweetness for all the other ingredients.
Substitute: Lime juice and orange juice could also be used.
Plant-Based Butter
The oil from the vegan butter helps with the richness of the recipe, but also helps with tenderness and moistness in the texture.
Substitute: Coconut oil could also be used.
Brown Sugar
Our sugar is in all three parts of the recipe for balance and flavor.
Substitute: Granulated coconut sugar or date sugar could be substituted.
Spices and Vanilla
We’re using cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice, salt, and vanilla for the ultimate layering and bringing this all together.
Substitute: You could substitute the spices for an apple pie spice instead in the apple filling. Replace with 1 ¾ teaspoon of apple pie spice in place of all the warming spices. You’ll still want to add salt and vanilla separately.
Full recipe and amounts listed below.
Vegan Caramel Ingredients:
In addition to the ingredients above, if you want to make the caramel drizzle for the top, you’ll also need:
Cane Sugar
To make the perfect caramel, melting sugar will crystalize to make a delicious homemade caramel.
Substitute: We haven’t tried to make this with other sugars at this time.
Coconut Milk
Full-fat canned coconut milk mimics heavy cream perfectly and is easy to use and cheaper than a vegan heavy cream.
Substitute: A vegan heavy cream will also work.
Other Vegan Handheld Desserts To Try:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (150g)
- ½ cup plant based butter, room temperature (113g)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (25g)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Apple Filling
- 2 tablespoons plant based butter
- 4 medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (about 1.5–2 lbs / 680–900g)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar (67g)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice (optional)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Crisp Topping
- ¾ cup brown sugar (150g)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (60g)
- ½ cup rolled oats (45g)
- 6 tablespoons plant based butter, room temperature (85g)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Optional: drizzle of caramel sauce + flaky salt for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper.
- Make the Shortbread Crust: In a medium bowl, mix 1 ¼ cups flour, ½ cup butter, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt until crumbly. Press evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Set aside.
- Apple Filling: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add 4 sliced apples, ⅓ cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoon water, 2 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 ½ tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon each salt and cardamom, and ⅛ teaspoon each nutmeg and allspice. Stir well and cook 5–7 minutes, until apples soften slightly and the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in ½ teaspoon vanilla.
- Layer the Apples Spread apple filling evenly over baked crust, pressing gently with a spatula to compact into an even layer.
- Make the Crisp Topping: In a medium bowl, use a fork to combine ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup each flour and rolled oats, 6 tablespoon butter, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over apple layer and lightly press down.
- Bake: Return pan to oven and bake 35–40 minutes, until topping is golden and apples are soft.
- Let bars cool completely before slicing in desired size. Drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with flaky salt if desired. Serve as is or with vegan vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Vegan Apple Crisp Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can prep this up to 3 days in advance. Store in the fridge, covered, until ready to eat.
Either! They are amazing served warm, but they don’t have to be.
I made a gluten free version of these apple crisp bars using King Arthur gluten free flour. The bars were so good that people asked for 2nd and 3rd helpings. I love that Andrew’s recipes are always easy to follow and result in food that nourishes and co.forts like a warm embrace. I also enjoy Andrew’s videos because he takes cooking to the next level of artistic creativity.
Thank you so much for this beautiful message. We love hearing that the Vegan Apple Crisp Bars worked so well as a gluten free version using King Arthur flour, and second and third helpings is always the best sign!
I really appreciate the easy recipes. I enjoy making these bars and loved watching friends and family enjoy them.
Awww thank you so much! We’re happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe!
I made this recipe for myself for a treat and it was so good and easy to make, I decided to make it for our family reunion last weekend. It was equally easy to make for 20+ people (i multiplied the recipe by 3) and it was a huge success (already had to send the recipe to a couple of people). I only substituted the brown sugar for cane sugar as that is what I had on hand, i cooked the apples in the pan a little longer to get a more caramelised flavour. No need for the caramel sauce in my opinion, it’s plenty indulgent enough. It goes well with whipped cream or sour cream, or even greek yoghurt for some freshness. My only complaint is that it’s too easy and accessible to make so i might make it all the time which is a little dangerous 😉
Awww thank you so much! We’re so glad to hear that this recipe not only was a hit for you but was a hit at your family reunion too! And we totally can relate to the feeling of wanting to make this one a little too often!
My sister said this might be her new favorite dessert. Period. Full stop. Yes. They are that good!
This is amazing! We’re so happy to hear that your sister enjoyed the recipe that much! Thank you for giving it a try!
I only had 3 small apples so I added in 1 1/5 c of blueberries to the filling. The spice blend on this dessert is outstanding. My husband said that it smelled so good that he couldn’t help but try it hot out of the oven. It was delicious!!!
Thank you! We’re so happy to hear that you both enjoyed the recipe!
This was an unbelievable thanksgiving dessert! The shortbread crust is such a nice additional layer and made it easy to cut it into neat squares. It’s like a perfect medium between apple pie and apple crisp. Topped it off with homemade vanilla ice cream— a very necessary accompaniment in my opinion 😉 Would definitely make again.
Thank you so so much! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for giving it a try!
The caramel sauce is missing the water in the written instructions.
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe! The water is optional in the recipe as it is meant to help get the sugar to a liquid state faster. But the recipe can be made as written as well.