Apple Butter Crumble Bars (Recipe Inspired by THEME MUSIC)

I’m officially kicking off the baking holiday season with Apple Butter Crumble Bars!

We’ve now entered my favorite time of year: the season of cinnamon-scented air, platters of cookies piled high on tables, festive decorations everywhere you look…

…and yoga pants becoming acceptable attire at all holiday functions because, by god, they’ll stretch to fit EVERYTHING you consume between now and New Year’s Eve.

That’s right, folks. We’ve entered the most calorific time of the year. AND I AM THERE FOR IT.

Why are Apple Butter Crumble Bars the book-inspired recipe for Theme Music?

Culinary inspiration for Theme Music was tricky. This book really doesn’t make you want to eat.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve read a book less inclined to induce hunger since Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

Since all the crazy action in Theme Music takes place on Thanksgiving morning, I went with a recipe that would pair more with the holiday than the book’s gruesome holiday events.

Meaning: I chose not to make severed finger hot dogs (you’re welcome) and instead went with the more seasonally appropriate crumble bars I’ve been whipping up for Thanksgiving ‘dos for years.

Your family and guests are going to love these sweet and sticky bars made with spiced apple butter and buttery, crumbly pastry.

Why I love Apple Butter Crumble Bars

Apple Butter Crumble Bars are easy to make and easy to eat. Which means they’re the ultimate Thanksgiving dessert – or breakfast, depending on how boldly you want to start your holiday morning. (YOLO!)

This treat offers a lot of flavor with very few ingredients, very little mess, and barely any cleanup. The crumble dough comes together in a food processor. So there’s very few dishes you have to wash up. Exactly what you want in a dessert during Thanksgiving week.

That’s right, I said Thanksgiving week. Because another great thing about Apple Butter Crumble Bars is that you can – nay, should — make them in advance.

If you plan to serve the crumble bars on Thursday, bake them on Tuesday, then stick ‘em in the fridge until you’re ready to slice and serve.

The flavors will marry together oh-so-well and be the perfect sweet treat after your enormous turkey dinner.

The one place to put in a little extra effort (if you can)…

Not to go all Ina Garten on you, but please use homemade apple butter in this recipe if you can. It really makes a difference.

You may remember from my Instagram post a few weeks ago that I had to use up a bunch of apples in a hurry, so I turned to my trusty All Day Apple Butter recipe for help.

The Apple Butter Crumble Bars you see here? Yep, they’re stuffed with my homemade apple butter.

Of course, if you can’t use homemade apple butter, “store bought is fine.”

Honestly, no matter what kind of filling you put into Apple Butter Crumble Bars, they’re going to turn out delicious. I’ve made variations of these bars using all sorts of jams and jellies. You really can’t go wrong.

What do you serve with Apple Butter Crumble Bars?

Need a Thanksgiving dessert spread to impress your guests? Bring a batch of these Apple Butter Crumble Bars, along with my Amazing Carrot Cake with Coconut Frosting, Pfeffernusse Sugar Cookies with Marbled Icing, Spiced Walnut Cookies, and Pumpkin Swirl Brownies.

Apple Butter Crumble Bars

All the flavors of fall are in these buttery crumble bars filled with cinnamon-spiced apple butter and baked to golden perfection.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Servings 16 bars

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup apple butter

Instructions

 

PREP INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick baking spray and line with parchment. Set aside.
• Stir together the 1 tbsp granulated sugar and 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Cut butter into cubes and place back into fridge so it stays cold.
• Separate your egg yolk from the egg white. Set the yolk aside and place egg white in a sealed container in the fridge for another use.

BAKING INSTRUCTIONS

• In a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade (the standard blade), add the flour, brown sugar, remaining granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse a few times to combine all ingredients.
• Add the cold, cubed butter to the food processor and pulse a few times until mixture starts to come together but is still sandy.
• Add the egg yolk and the vanilla extract, and pulse again to combine until all ingredients are mixed together. This mixture should still be a little crumbly, a little like pie dough before it all comes together into one ball.
• Scoop out a 1/2 cup of the dough into a small bowl and set in the fridge.
• Tip the rest of the dough into the prepared baking pan. Use your fingers to press the dough firmly and evenly into the pan, pressing it up about 1/4 inch around the edges of the pan.
• Smooth the apple butter over the dough until the surface is evenly covered.
• Crumble the remaining 1/2 cup of refrigerated dough over the apple butter; it’s okay if the apple butter is mostly covered.
• Sprinkle the top of the bars with the cinnamon sugar mixture, then place baking pan in a 375F oven and bake until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
• Remove the pan with the baked bars to a wire cooling rack, and let the bars cool completely before cutting and serving.**

Notes

* Here is my recipe for homemade apple butter.

**If you can, refrigerate the pan overnight before you slice the bars. This will help the apple butter set up, marry all the flavors, and make slicing the bars much easier when you go to serve them.

Apple Butter Crumble Bars are a lightly adapted version of this recipe.