Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

I love living in the South but one thing I've always wanted to participate in is the Northern tradition of apple picking. Yes, we have great summer peaches and blackberries here in the South but there is something about the crisp fall air and the idea of picking apples with your family that makes me, well, a little jealous. 

Around here at least the grocery stores are over flowing with beautiful fresh apples so my little one and I went "apple picking" (into the grocery cart), came home and made these really remarkable apple crumble bars. I've eaten maybe 8. Shhh ... 

Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

serves 16

Salted Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Crust and Crumble

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla extract

Apple Filling

3 cups diced apples (I used Honey Crisp)

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the sauce, combine brown sugar, butter, and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until butter has melted completely. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes—do not still, swirl pan every couple of minutes to check color. Remove from heat when caramel begins to turn a light amber color and stir in vanilla and sea salt until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool.

For the bars, line a 9 x 9 -inch baking pan with parchment. Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in melted butter and vanilla until combined. Reserve 1 cup of the crumble; add remaining crumble to prepared baking dish and press into an even layer. Bake for 14 minutes, until edges are lightly golden. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Toss apples with lemon juice cinnamon, and cornstarch; pour over baked crust. Drizzle apples with salted caramel sauce (reserve 1/2 cup of sauce for serving) and top with reserved crumble. Return baking dish to oven and bake another 30 to 35 minutes, until top is golden and filling is bubbling.

Cool completely in baking pan on a wire rack. Carefully lift parchment paper to remove bars from pan and place on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife. Drizzle bars with remaining caramel sauce (heat for 30 seconds in microwave if needed to make more pourable) and serve. Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before serving.