Swap pie for a streusel-y square – these fall-festive Apple Crumble Bars are generously spiced and date sweetened, with a coconut flour crust and crumble!

[wprm-recipe-jump]



Apple pie. Apple tart. Apple crisp. Apple crumble.

You guys have been awesome with all the apple + some sort of streusel/crunch/crust requests lately, and I have been loving the inspiration. Over-saturation of the pumpkin spice everything market is making apples look pretty damn good these days, huh?

But for real – #teamappleANDpumpkin for life.

So after much thought and fall fruit fridge-stocking, this is my response to all the apple requests. I chose this particular crumble bar form for a few reasons:

1. Pies say save me for a party to share with your minimum of 4 other friends/family members. But bars, bars are approachable. Bars say make me on a Sunday and square me up for from-the-fridge snacking all week long. Bars say you can share me but no pressure. Bars say easy and everyday. And they say it all with just as much yum as any round dish of dessert.

2. Pies and tarts and crisps all require plates and utensils and those sorts of classy things. I like to keep it simple: hand -> face.

3. Crumble is just code for streusel and you know how I feel about streusel.

Okay so the informal form is all sorted out, but now what makes these crumble bars different from the crumble bar recipes of a zillion other people who also are too lazy too roll out a pie crust love simple treats?

Hint: medjool dates.

(And they are grain-free and vegan.)

The dates are the truly unique part of what’s happening here because these bars are fruit-sweetened from crumble top to bottom. Not to mention all the apples in between of course.

To save time, I condensed all the date-blending business into one step. One sweet sticky paste to coat the apples, bind the crust, and sweeten the crumble. Oh, and did I mention it happens to contain an entire apple and a half as well?

This magical paste stuff is made up of chopped apple, dates, almond butter, and lemon juice. I typically use water to make date paste, but in the spirit of fall I figured you’d be cool with apple instead. And the almond (or any nut!) butter addition keeps the crust from being too dry and the crumble from being too un-goldenbrownandtoasty.

The crust and crumble are really one in the same – mix once, use twice. One cup of the date paste combined with coconut flour and sea salt is all this simple double-duty stuff is made of. The remaining date paste goes to coating the apples along with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.

Good news! And some of you will probably be more excited about this than anything apple related I have said all post. As per countless requests, I finally included weight measurements. I’ve only been meaning to for about…forever. Now fingers crossed I can remember to keep it up.

So whaddya say – can we leave the pie pan tucked away in the cabinet and just crumble bar our way through apple season? If you’re in, I’m in!

WATCH HOW TO:

Grain-Free Apple Crumble Bars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.9 from 16 reviews Prep Time: Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: Yield: 6 servings 1 x Print Pin Description Swap pie for a streusel-y square – these fall-festive Apple Crumble Bars are generously spiced and date sweetened, with a coconut flour crust and crumble! Scale 1x 2x 3x Ingredients Apple Date Paste 2 cup s (265g) chopped apple

s (265g) chopped apple 12 – 14 (240g with pits removed) pitted medjool dates

– (240g with pits removed) pitted medjool dates 1 tbsp lemon juice

lemon juice 1/4 cup (60g) nut/seed butter Crust/Crumble 1 cup (300g) apple date paste ((above))

(300g) apple date paste ((above)) 2/3 cup (80g) coconut flour

(80g) coconut flour Pinch of salt Apple Filling 1/2 cup (150g) apple date paste ((above))

(150g) apple date paste ((above)) 1 – 2 (360g) apples, thinly sliced

– (360g) apples, thinly sliced 1 tbsp cinnamon

cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg

nutmeg 1 tsp vanilla extract Instructions Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the 2 cups chopped apple and lemon juice in a high speed blender. Blend until liquified. Add the rest of the paste ingredients and blend until smooth. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of the paste with the coconut flour and salt. Mix until sticky and clumpy. Press half of the dough into a baking pan lined with parchment paper (I used this 7.5×5.5″ glass dish). Set the rest aside. In a separate bowl, combine the sliced apples (I used a mandolin to slice them super thin) with 1/2 cup of the paste, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Toss to coat. Arrange the apple slices on top of the crust in layers. Crumble the remaining crust over top. Press in lightly. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350F or until toasty golden brown on top. Remove from the oven. Cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

CLICK BELOW TO PIN

SaveSave