The Lean Green Bean

Caramel Apple Bars

by 56 Comments

Good Morning!

It’s Monday…. Don’t you hate how an especially great weekend makes coming back to reality just that much harder? Well, have no fear. I have something for you that might ease the pain.

Caramel.Apple.Bars.

Bursting with fall flavors, these Caramel Apple Bars are a lightened up alternative to a real caramel apple.

I know, I know, I told you I don’t like caramel. But I think I may be changing my mind. I started thinking about these as soon as I got this in the mail (free sample- all thoughts and opinions are my own):

I knew the apple cinnamon would be perfect for baking. Confession- I made these 3 times over the weekend trying to get them just right.

Bursting with fall flavors, these Caramel Apple Bars are a lightened up alternative to a real caramel apple.

The first time, the taste was spot on but they were a little crumbly. The second time they were more bar like, but not sweet enough. Now they’re delicious.

Bursting with fall flavors, these Caramel Apple Bars are a lightened up alternative to a real caramel apple.

Print

Caramel Apple Bars

  • Author: Lindsay L
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Dessert
Scale

Ingredients

  • ¼ c nut butter
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 1– 6oz container of Apple Cinnamon greek yogurt, or vanilla yogurt
  • ¼ c brown rice syrup, or honey
  • 1 Tbsp applesauce
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 1 c oats
  • scant 1/2 c white whole wheat flour
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/4 cup chopped apples
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 c chopped pecans
  • 20 caramels + splash of milk

Instructions

  1. 8 x 8 Pan
  2. In a medium sized bowl melt the butter and nut butter and mix well.
  3. Add the greek yogurt, egg, brown rice syrup, applesauce and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon.
  5. Add the apples and mix well.
  6. Line an 8×8 pan with foil and grease well.
  7. Spoon the mixture into the pan and spread evenly.
  8. Melt the caramels in the microwave and pour on top of the apple mixture.
  9. Top with chopped pecans.
  10. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees F.
  11. Let cool completely before cutting.

Notes

I highly recommend nuking these in the microwave before eating them!

Some other options for you:

If you really like caramel, you could melt some extra caramels and mix them into the batter.
If you’re a chocolate fan you could throw some chocolate chips into the mix or add them on top.

I used almond butter but peanut butter would work well too.

You could also top them with peanuts instead of pecans.

Hubby suggests adding a layer of apple slices to the bottom to ensure you get apples in every bite! Or even a layer of apple and caramel to the middle. Isn’t he a genius?

And finally, I didn’t have any in the freezer but I bet these would be amazing topped with some vanilla ice cream!

Bursting with fall flavors, these Caramel Apple Bars are a lightened up alternative to a real caramel apple.

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  So there you have it! And as far as dessert goes, these are pretty healthy!   Today’s Workout:   Pin It

So dig in! Happy Monday friends 🙂
–Lindsay–

Comments

  3. Yum! These bars look awesome. Don’t you hate it when you have to make things 3 or 4 times? But at least the end result was worth the effort! I like the way you think with the ice cream on top 🙂

    Reply

  4. I love the recipe, and definitely sounds like thirds a charm here! I am a big fan of this flavor combination, so I really love your recipe:-) Yum, Hugs, Terra

    Reply

    • hmmmm you could use just regular butter? i swapped some of the butter with nut butter to get some healthier fats, but you don’t really taste the nut butter so regular butter would probably work just fine. just not quite as healthy…however, probably extra delicious 🙂

      Reply

  26. OMG should not have read this post when I am absolutely RAVENOUS after my day of travel!! It’s not even 6pm in Cali and I feel like it’s 9pm and haven’t had dinner yet. Um, can you pleeeease beam some of these bad boys over to me asap? MMM!

    Reply

  30. What could I use in exchange for nut butter and the brown rice syrup? Being in a very small, very rural area those are hard to find I’m sure.

    Reply

    • you could probably just use all butter instead of part butter/part nut butter…or even applesauce for some of the nutter butter and some butter. for brown rice syrup you could sub honey…or even regular sugar, but you should google the exchange ratio for brown rice syrup to sugar, i think it’s a little less regular sugar.

      Reply

      • Awesome Lindsay thanks so much. I’ll look into it, try it out, and let you know what I figure out as far as tastes etc go.

        Reply

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