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Apple Crumble Bars – This delicious Fall inspired dessert combines apples, oats, and cinnamon for a tasty crumbly bite. It cooks up in less than 30 minutes.
Seriously though, nothing beats autumn flavors. Things like pumpkin, cinnamon, and apple are the best flavors to incorporate in your cooking/baking this time of the year.
If I am not careful, then I can definitely find myself going overboard indulging in treats this time of year. It takes some seriously strong willpower not to try pumpkin spice everything, including a Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks every day.
In an effort to try to live a healthier lifestyle, I signed up a few weeks ago to work with a personal trainer to help me get my diet and body in better shape. With doing that, I am working out 5 days a week, lifting weights, and logging everything that I eat into MyFitnessPal.
The working out has taken some getting used to and I have to admit that I find myself sore more days than I would like. I was a total cardio head…running was my jam…I avoided the gym like the plague because I loved the idea of lacing up my running shoes and getting out in nature. It was my time to zone out and just be at peace. Doing this I found that my legs got strong, endurance became longer, and my mental health more secure. The downside is that I wasn’t building the muscle that my body needed to make me look more toned.
But enough about that because this blog is all about food and in working with the trainer, I am learning that I can still indulge in the foods that I love and eat even more food if I make healthier swaps where I can. So instead of having that Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte, I have been enjoying a Venti Iced Coffee Blended with stevia and sugar-free creamer instead that is only a whopping 50 calories and I love it!
I am also finding creative ways to have sweet treats that utilize pumpkin, cinnamon, and apple in a healthier way. So today, I decided to use cinnamon and apple to make a healthier version of Apple Crumble Bars. These bars have less sugar, more fiber, and some good fat making one serving a whole 134 calories. They are also delicious and so easy to make. Be sure to try them!
Apple Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups apples, diced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Using a food processor, pulse the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, egg, and coconut oil until it forms a crumbly sticky meal.
- Set aside 1/3 of the mixture to use for the topping.
- Add the dough into the prepared baking pan and press evenly into the bottom.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, add the diced apples, vanilla extract, lemon juice, nutmeg, water, and maple syrup until heated and the sauce is warm.
- Stir the chia seeds into the apple mixture and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Pour the mixture onto the dough in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle the topping that you set aside on top of the apple mixture evenly.
- Place into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool in the baking dish for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Slice into bars and serve. Store the extra in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Got any comments, questions, or other ideas for these Apple Crumble Bars? Share them in the comments below!
14 Comments
Tamara
October 17, 2017 at 10:26 AMWhat little slices of heaven those are! I use the myfitnesspal app as well. I love seeing how many steps it estimates that I take. I found it to be pretty spot on. And I love all fall flavors like you!
LaKita
October 19, 2017 at 7:52 PMThere are pretty good and I have definitely enjoyed my share of them 🙂
I like seeing my daily steps as well, it’s pretty motivating!
Akaleistar
October 17, 2017 at 8:47 PMOh, that looks delicious, and since it has apples, it’s healthy, right?
LaKita
October 19, 2017 at 7:53 PMThank you and I believe that these are definitely because of apples, chia seeds, and not too much sugar 😉
Sonya
October 19, 2017 at 10:35 PMYum!!! These bars look delicious!!! I like that they have very little sugar in the recipe.
LaKita
October 24, 2017 at 3:16 PMThank you…I like that as well, but they are still sweet with the apple 🙂
Demetra
November 4, 2017 at 1:12 PMThese apple crumble bars look absolutely delicious! My husband loves everything apple so he would go nuts for these.
LaKita
November 9, 2017 at 7:16 PMThank you! I love the addition of apple to recipes so I can totally relate 🙂
Kenya Rae
November 7, 2017 at 12:01 PMMy struggle everyday in life is eating what I want and staying slim and I am doing the first one but not so great on the second. LOL!
LaKita
November 9, 2017 at 7:24 PMThe struggle is real! I can totally relate!!
Felicita
November 7, 2017 at 6:19 PMEasy recipes are my thing! Love that these are easy to whip up and have a healthy factor. I started doing Zumba at home after dropping off the kids. It is HARD to eat healthy consistently for me.
LaKita
November 9, 2017 at 7:26 PMI went to a Zumba class at the gym once and I was so lost…I felt like everyone knew the step except me, but it was a lot of fun and didn’t feel like I was working out. I may do better with the at-home option…LOL!
Mary
November 14, 2017 at 11:41 AMI’ve been craving apple pie and this apple crumble bar is just as good. Pumpkin, cinnamon, and apple are totally Fall flavors. Congrats on getting a trainer, that’s super exciting.I always say summer bodies are made in the winter! The apple chunks in this bar look amazing.
LaKita
November 14, 2017 at 6:38 PMThank you! I am definitely going to work on it during the winter this year 😉