Ina knows. It seems like Ina Garten knows just about everything she needs to know. These Apple Pie Bars are proof positive.
You never look at an Ina Garten recipe and doubt her. Something about her easy temperament, effortless entertaining, innumerable mentions of her husband Jeffrey, and how she’ll use four sticks of butter for one recipe at the drop of a hat… you just never doubt her.
I’m currently working my way through Ina’s new cookbook Cooking for Jeffrey and really…. it’s all enough to make you want to peel apples, pie them, make chicken stock, and marry someone named Jeffrey all in one afternoon.
Because I think that you may have a ton of apples on your kitchen counter from either an apple picking field trip or wishful Autumn thinking at the grocery store, let’s make Ina’s Pretty Perfect Apple Pie Bars. I added the “Pretty Perfect” in there because I’m sure that’s what she implies in every one of her recipe titles.
We’re talking about apples and pie so let’s go a little deeper.
Last week, while my parents were in town for a visit, we made an apple pie. The whole family got in on the action which made the making and enjoying as sweet and charming as you’d expect. Turns out pie tastes even better when four other people you love help make it.
BUT! This pie making set my dad off on some deep internet research about apples for pies.
Have you ever wondered:
What Are The Best Apples For Pie? (This was fascinating and surprising and will have you buying Golden Delicious apples!
and/or
How To Make Perfect Apple Pie Filling (Also fascinating and surprising and will have you pouring warm apple cider over your pie apples!)
Apple Pie knowledge.
And with that… we’re going to carry our Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples off to the kitchen and do what Ina says.
Here’s how these Apple Pie Bars come together:
Softened butter to make a moist shortbread-type crust- enough for both crust and topping.
Apples to peel and spice and saute.
It’s just the beginning. Let’s go!
Softened butter is combined with brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract.
Beaten until supple and very well combined.
Flour and salt to the mixture to create a soft batter.
2/3 of the crust batter is added to a greased pan… you know how this works.
Fingers are very well floured and the crust is pressed along the bottom of the pan and up the sides just enough to cradle some sliced apples.
To the remaining 1/3 of crust batter… well, let’s call it topping now after stirring in chopped walnuts and ground cinnamon.
I set mine in the fridge to rest while the crust baked and the apple filling is prepped.
After our apple studies (above), I chose Golden Delicious and Braeburn apples to bake in these bars.
I was maaaddd suspicious about the Golden Delicious because after being packed in my school lunch for what seemed like 9 consecutive years… I’ve stopped thinking Golden Delicious apples were delicious at all. That’s more of a personal problem and also, I’m TOTALLY WRONG.
Apples: peeled, cored, sliced.
Combined with lemon, sugar, and cinnamon + nutmeg spice.
The apple mixture is tossed and cooked in melted butter until softened and it smells so good you can’t help but sneak an apple slice into your mouth, about 12 minutes.
I added a sprinkling of cornstarch to my apples just as they finished cooking on the stovetop so that when they go into the oven over the crust, the apple juices thicken up nicely.
Ina’s recipe doesn’t call for cornstarch… this is me being a renegade.
Lightly cooked apples are spooned over the partially baked crust.
It only gets better from here, really.
Cinnamon + walnut topping pieced over the apple filling.
The topping won’t cover the entire tart. That’s right. Doing it right!
The pie bars are baked to golden brown. You’ll know they’re done when they look downright irresistible.
This is when Ina ends and I begin… just because I can’t leave well enough alone. The bars are cooled completely and I topped them with a thick Brown Butter Glaze.
Sliced generously and YES.
These are BUTTERY crisp, apple sweet and spiced. Easier than pie with all the gorgeous apple flavor. Ina got these Apple Pie Bars right and we all knew she would.
While we’re on the AutumnVibe Train, you might also consider:
Photos with: Jon Melendez
Print
Ina Garten’s Apple Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Filling
- 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1 or 2 large Fuji apples, peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- For the Glaze
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- splash of whole milk
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over two edges of the pan about two inches. This will make the pie bars easier to remove after it’s baked. Lightly spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- For the crust, place the butter, sugars, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Scatter two-thirds of the dough into clumps in the prepared pan, flour your fingers and press the dough across the bottom of the pan and up the sides of the pan about 1/2-inch.
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and set aside to cool while you prepare the topping and filling.
- In a small bowl combine the remaining crust, walnuts and cinnamon. Stir until combined and set aside.
- To make the filling, combine both kinds of apples and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and toss to coat.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the seasoned apples and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 12 minutes until the apples are tender and some of the liquid has evaporated. Add the cornstarch and toss for 1 minute more.
- Spread the apples evenly over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
- Pinch medium pieces of remaining dough with your fingers and drop them evenly over the top of the apple mixture (they won’t cover the top completely). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the topping is brown.
- Allow to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, in a small bowl whisk together browned butter, powdered sugar, a plash of milk and pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth. Spoon into a ziplock bag and cut a tiny tip off one corner of the bag. Drizzle glaze over cooled bars before slicing into 9 slices.
- Store, wrapped individually or covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 9
73 Responses
has anyone made these with strawberry rhubarb combo? if so, proportion of each fruit? thanks
This is seriously the best thing I have ever baked. Love love love it! I have even made a dairy free version that my niece loved and said it was amazing.
I was having a bad day, extremely distracted and unintentionally did not follow the recipe correctly. My mistakes:
*added walnuts and cinnamon to the base
*forgot to prebake the base and added the apples and topping all in one go
I cooked the bars for a total of 40 min and it all came out very nicely. I did not make the icing and am glad I didn’t. I thought the base and crumbles were too sweet for my liking (but everyone else liked it). All of that to say, these bars came out tasty. I used two pink lady apples and one golden delicious.
For what it’s worth, this recipe adapts really well to other fruit. I had planned on making this last week but had a bowl of peaches I also needed to burn through. The only thing I changed in the process(besides the fruit), was chopped toasted pecan in place of walnut and upping the nutmeg. Delicious, my family was sad when it was gone.
As I was making these- I thought, man, that’s a TON of apples for an 8X8 and then thought maybe they’d cool down. Should have read the comments as it’s double of what you’d need!
Next time I’ll make Ina’s original size because otherwise, these are amazing and I’ll want the full sheet pan ?
Agree with other reviewers. This is the original amount of apples for ½ recipe volume. Luckily I realized it didn’t look right piled so high into my 8X8 pan and I removed half….turned it into applesauce
I made this and while it tasted delicious it completely fell apart when I cut it!! I was so disappointed!! Any suggestions what I did wrong?
Unbelievably FANTASTIC!!!! This is a winner recipe and we loved the icing addition! Made it just as the recipe called for except we deleted the nutmeg and added more cinnamon as we are not fans of nutmeg. The recipe is a tad bit involved but it works out great because as one detail is baking the other can be being prepared. Can’t wait to make it again!
Joy, Ina’s recipe calls for 3 lbs of apples, and a 13×9 pan. Should yours be 3/4 lb of each apple variety?
This says that it’s (essentially) a half recipe of Ina’s bars. However, the apple quantities listed for your 8 x 8 version and Ina’s 9 x 13 version are the same: a total of 3 lbs of apples. Is this intentional (i.e., do you want double the apple filling), or was it a transcription error? Ina says that 3 apples makes 1.5 lbs, but you say that 1.5 apples makes 1.5 lbs…so clarification would be very helpful. Thanks!
Oy vey, I screwed these up so badly. I got distracted and accidentally reversed the quantities of flour and sugar, and the topping came out hard as a rock. A very sweet rock. And the butter sort of pooled. The apples were good though, so I trashed the topping and served them with vanilla ice cream. Sh*t happens. Definitely worth another try!
Oh Joy, you crack me up- I adore your writing style and while I’m set on baking these as soon as possible, I can’t help but laugh uncontrollably over your Cooking for Jeffrey comments (which, just having fun here, I love Ina!). If you find a Jeffrey to marry, please get on with finding me one too…Now I’m off to bake these, and yes please, hope the AutumnVibe train has arrived at the station. Yum!!??
Please delete the ?? at the end of my comment!
!!!! all the way!
The BEST apple pie bars! So perfect for gatherings :) Thank you, Joy (and Ina)!
I peeled, I baked, and I ate a 1/3 of it!
Made this in a 8″ springform pan, and it turned out perfectly. Thanks so much for another go-to recipe when I’ve got a glut of apples.
Ok, my tummy hurts. I’m gonna go lay down…
Extra apples at our home lead to Dorrie Greenspan’s Custardy Apple Squares – a Food 52 recipe. Quick and delicious!
Love this recipe and thought of it when trying to come up with an Easter dessert – thoughts on rhubarb as a seasonal replacement? With strawberries?
I’ve made these twice and they always get crazy rave reviews. Both times I’ve doubled the amount of apples though and it is amazing with extra apples!
If you don’t mind me asking: Where did you get your mixing bowls? There beautiful. I love the one with the spout!!!!
I thought maybe they were Emile Henry so I looked on their site because the two tone reminded me of theirs. (I love the artisan pie dishes they make). However I saw they were not. :)
Need to make these as an addition to my christmas desserts! Do you have the recipe for the Brown butter glaze that you used?
These looked so delicious that I made them today. However I am not sure what I did, but my pastry came out all crumbly rather than a batter so I added an egg. Any idea what I could have done wrong? It still tastes delicious. Thanks so much
Hm… sounds like perhaps you were heavy handed in measuring the flour? Adding an egg was the right move in this case. I’m glad it worked out!
Any thoughts on making these ahead and freezing? I’m thinking about being a real thanksgiving overachiever and making them tomorrow…
Hi! just to be sure 11/2 means about 11-12 of each kind of apple? Thanks :)
No that means one and a half pounds of apples. About 3 to 4 of each apple.
Could you recommend a substitution for the walnuts?
You could leave them out, or add another nut that you like, perhaps pecans
You don’t have any instructions on how to brown the butter, you just have butter melted in the instructions am I missing something?
Hi Joy! Quick question. Doesn’t 3 pounds of apples sound too much?
I recently bought Ina’s book and your post inspired me to make this at the weekend. I was thinking about taking it to friends at Thanksgiving. Gosh – it was wicked good!!!! Husband approved and I’m sure my friends will love it too.
This sounded so tempting since, like you said, I just happened to have gone apple picking (although I ended up buying the recommended apples anyway lol) but I was disappointed in the end result. I’m a huge fan of Ina’s recipes and they usually turn out great but I won’t be making these again. Sorry! Nothing special at all and I regretted bringing them to a friends for dessert. (I’m known as ‘the baker’ in our group and expectations are usually high.) I’ll stick with my King Arthur Blue Ribbon Apple Pie recipe. Just a little more work but it packs a lot more flavor and presentation.
You should try it again! Double the apple pie filling and see if you like it better!
Oh my this looks amazing! Ina Garden truly never fails, does she? And I love how there are step by step pictures.
Making this now, but vanilla seems to be missing from the crust ingredients — how much should go in? Going to guess 1 t for now!
So sorry about that! All fixed up!
Oh my goodness so yum!!!!
In England we have a special kind of apple called a bramley, that is a sour cooking apple that totally turned to mush when cooked. Instant fluffy apple sauce!! So it’s used with other apples to make a pie. It’s so delicious. Wish we could get it was here in the US.
It’s like you knew that I had a ton of apples to use up! My in-laws visited and left us with 4 pounds of apples, so this will put a dent in it! Thanks for sharing! :)
Ina Garten is probably one of the first Food Network stars that I really admired. I love her life, her recipes, and I love how sweet Jeffrey and her are! I can’t wait to try these bars!
https://www.searedandshameless.com
Yum! You always do you so well. I love the glaze on top idea. So good. And shortbread – it’s the best kind of crust/crumb. Buttery and sweet.
Brown butter glaze? Genius!
I made these tonight and they are amazing! Thanks, Joy! Just wanted to note that you left out directions for the browned butter (it only says melted), as well as measurement for vanilla. I managed without explicit directions, but just thought you’d want to know! LOVE every recipe I’ve made of yours over the years–keep up the delicious work!
Odd when I try to pin some of your posts from Feedly they fail. Like when it brings up the photo options it is just goes away.
We love Ina and Ina loved Julia – and Julia always recommended those Golden Delicious apples for pies, tarts and so on. They soften but don’t turn into mush. See – it all comes around!
Hi Joy – how much vanilla in the crust?
Two words: Northern Spy. I just read somewhere that they are The Best for pie and I have to agree, after the pie I made last weekend.
Love this article, along with your entire page! :)
Keep up the good work, and feel free to follow for similar content.
XOXO, Tia
http://www.skinnyfit.me
Golden delicious apples were dead to me, until now:)
I loved reading that apple pie study! My world is totally turned upside-down… will I really stop using granny smiths? I think I just might! Thanks for the recipe, Joy!
Julia – https://bunnybaubles.com
Yup, making these….btw have you seen Vivian Howard’s new cookbook? Deep Roots Run….gorgeous…just got my birthday copy. Bit hard to source okra is Canada but so, so many of the recipes look amazing!
That looks yummy!!! I love your bowls where did you get them from???
They are actually vintage plates
Oh yes! I am on board for this. We have apples and pears galore!
Um, yes. I need to try this during the weird time when I want apple pie but it doesn’t feel like apple pie time yet. And I’m absolutely making them with your brown butter glaze.
I also purchased her book last week and made these bars! Delicious! Next I wanted to make Jeffery’s devils food cake. I balked at 9 cubes of butter and turning my mixer on HIGH for an entire hour for the frosting. I’ll be interested to hear if you do that. Won’t it burn up the mixer?
I just got my book in the mail, and this was the first recipe I tried. Fabulous! But now I wish I had thought of adding the glaze……great suggestion! Next time.
Oh this looks wonderful!!!! I’ll definitely have to try it. Last weekend my husband and I ventured to Philadelphia, thanks to your post a while back about the Reading Terminal Market, we knew exactly where to go for a delicious bite to eat!! You’re kind of the best.
Oh this makes me so happy! One of my very favorite places!
Ina definitely knows, and these bars need to happen in my kitchen immediately! So yummy!!
Can’t wait to try.have all Ina ‘s cook books and never never never had a failed recipe.
These are not exactly Ina’s bars as you have changed some ingredients and method
Correct.
I was just trying to psyche myself up to make enough apple pie for 50 people since I got a donation of vanilla ice cream for the church luncheon. Thank you for saving me from that. This looks much more sanity saving. Test run later this week.
Hi Robby! Yes, this will be much easier. Ina’s original recipe makes a 9×13-inch pan and I’ve halved the recipe for my site. I’d say you need maybe 2, 9×13-inch pans which means 2 pounds of butter and about 12 pounds of apples.
Would this work with pears do you think..? :)
Hi I did it with pears an cranberries out of this world
These look amazing! Could I double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 pan if I’m feeding a crowd?
Hi Leila. Yes, totally! Ina’s original recipe is in a 9×13-inch pan and I’ve halved the recipe for my site. She uses 1 pound of butter for the crust and 6 pounds of butter for the filling. You should be good to go doubling it!
Hi Joy, I love butter, but I believe you mean 6 pounds of apples for the filling…..
Ina always knows what’s what! These look lovely and I love your idea of the glaze on top! Even more perfect!
Love!!!!! These look and sound divine, Joy!
Oh my goodness! These are so cute and fun, and that brown butter glaze looks heavenly! You and Ina are two of my favorite ladies so the pairing seems perfect! ;)
I can’t remember when it was the last time I baked an apple pie. Although my baking skills are not the best you inspired me to try out her pretty perfect apple pie :) Thanks for that!
xx from Bavaria/Germany, Rena
http://www.dressedwithsoul.com