Maple Apple Bars

Name: Maple Apple Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1 1/3 cups brown sugar (, packed); 1/2 cup butter (, melted); 1/2 cup maple syrup; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 large eggs; 2 cups flour; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 3 Granny Smith apples (, peeled, cored and chopped)

Maple Apple Bars are delicious and super easy to make with brown sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and Granny Smith Apple chunks.

Homemade Apple Bars are an easy, shareable Dessert perfect for a potluck, bake sale, or to enjoy over the holidays. You can also try a few other delicious apple bar recipes like Caramel Apple Bars and Apple Crumb Bars.

Maple Apple Bars scattered on cutting board

Homemade Apple Bars are super easy to make and ready in just 40 minutes. All you have to do is combine the easy brown sugar and maple batter. Then chop medium apples, and fold them into the mixture. Pour the batter into the baking tin, and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes. From start to finish the recipe is completely fool-proof and the end result is absolutely delicious.

The baked apples and maple syrup in a buttery dessert recipe make a comforting and rich combination. They’re perfect for a seasonal, holiday treat, but you can also enjoy them all throughout the fall and winter.

Maple Apple Bars taste amazing on their own but they can be made into an extra special dessert when served up with a scoop of creamy Vanilla Ice Cream. You can even sprinkle a little cinnamon over the ice cream or drizzle on some Caramel Sauce to finish the decadent apple recipe.

If you don’t want something as heavy as ice cream, but still want a creamy topping for your Apple Bars, you can use Whipped Cream. No worries if you don’t have store-bought whipped cream either! It’s easy to make your own with heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in just a few minutes.

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FAQs About Maple Apple Bars

How are blondies similar to brownies?

You’ll often see blondies served the same way brownies are: baked in a pan, cut into squares, served on their own or with an ice cream or sauce topping. The two are comparable but there are clear differences. Brownies are chocolatey because they’re made with cocoa or melted chocolate in the batter. Blondies are flavored with brown sugar and vanilla. While they don’t exactly taste the same, they both make a delicious dessert and you should try both of them.

Can I substitute regular sugar for the brown sugar in Maple Apple Bars?

Regular sugar will not serve as a good substitute for brown sugar in these Apple Bars. Brown sugar contains molasses, which brings so much flavor to these bars. Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar would be interchangeable in the recipe. Dark brown sugar simply contains more molasses. If you have granulated sugar and molasses you could make your own brown sugar by mixing one tablespoon of molasses into one cup of sugar.

Key Ingredients in Maple Apple Bars

Fresh Apples: The tart apple flavor in Granny Smith Apples becomes slightly sweeter when you bake them. However, they still maintain their shape well and have a wonderful balance of tart and sweet, which makes them perfect for dessert. If you want to use a different type of apple, Honeycrisp, Winesap, and Braeburn are a few other good options.
Brown Sugar: For the most part, these Apple Bars are sweetened with brown sugar. It’s important to use sugar instead of just maple syrup because it has a slightly more mild flavor and gives the bars a nice chewy texture without adding too much liquid.
Maple: Then you just need to add a bit of maple to bring that rich, dark, buttery sweet flavor to the bars. Mix ½ cup of maple syrup for the most amazing, balanced, and complex flavor in the Maple Apple Bars.

How to Make Maple Apple Bars

Prep Time: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then prep a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Batter: Add the brown sugar, melted unsalted butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and eggs to a large mixing bowl. Then whisk the wet ingredients until well combined into a smooth mixture. Add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt next. Then mix the flour into the blondie batter until just combined. Make sure not to overmix the dry ingredients or the bars will turn out stiff. Simply mix until the dough forms and there aren’t any flour streaks. Fold in the chunks of apple to finish the batter.
Cook Time: Transfer batter into the prepared baking dish. Then spread the apple mixture into an even layer. Put it in the oven for a 30-minute baking time until the Maple Apple Bars are rich golden brown. Then let the warm blondies cool before slicing and serving.

Can Maple Apple Bars be made ahead?

These bars taste delicious served fresh, but they will continue to be delicious for days! Making these bars ahead would be a no-brainer if you’ve got a busy week and you’d like some sweet treats to grab when the craving strikes. You can also make the bars a day or two ahead if you won’t have much time to make them on the day you’d like to serve them. Another idea is to make these at the beginning of the week and eat these bars as a sweet breakfast treat throughout the week to replace your regular muffin or pastry.

Variations on Maple Apple Bars

Seasonings: To add a little extra flavor to the Apple Bars, you can mix in some of your favorite spices. Warm spices like ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves would taste wonderful.
Caramel Apple Pie Bars: Instead of maple, you can add some extra sweetness to the bars with caramel sauce. You might find the combination of maple and caramel too rich, so if you’re adding caramel sauce then replace the maple in the batter with granulated sugar. Then combine the batter and bake as usual. Once the Apple Bars are finished you can drizzle Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce over the top, and let it all cool before serving.
Streusel Topping: For a delicious addition of flavor and crunchy texture, you can add a brown sugar streusel topping to the bars before baking. To make the topping combine ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, ½ cup white flour, 1 ½ tsp cinnamon, and ⅛ tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Then add ¼ cup cold butter cut into small pieces. Use a fork or pastry cutter to combine into coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the brown sugar topping over the Apple Bar Batter and bake to golden perfection.
Nut Bars: Along with the apples, you can add some chopped nuts to give the Maple Apple Bars a crunchy texture. Toasted almonds, walnuts, or pecans would work wonderfully in this recipe.

Maple Apple Bars stacked on serving plate showing interior

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How to Store

Serve: Maple Apple Bars can stay good at room temperature for up to 1 week covered in aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
Store: Make sure to give the bars enough chill time before you cover them or put them in an airtight container. Then they can stay good in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Freeze: To freeze the bars, cut the chilled dessert into squares. Then Place them in a freezer bag with parchment paper between each layer. They’ll stay good for up to 3 months.

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Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 9×13 baking dish with baking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, melted butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and eggs until well combined.
Add in flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
Stir in the apples.
Pour into baking dish and spread evenly.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Cool completely before slicing.