Apple Crisp Pecan Bars
A delicious fall dessert made with apple filling and crumb topping on a pecan crust. Gluten-free and vegan, too!
Ingredients
Pecan Crust
- 3 cups pecans
- 3 tbsp. melted Smart Balance or Earth Balance, or butter
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup
Apple & Spice Filling
- 3 large Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup corn flour
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. pure maple syrup, honey or light agave syrup
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup corn flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
Pecan Crust
- Grease or spray an 8-inch square casserole dish. Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Lightly toast pecans and then finely chop in the food processor. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Evenly pat the nut mixture onto the bottom of the prepared casserole dish, covering the entire bottom of the dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 375° F. and remove from oven. and cool to room temperature. Keep oven at 375°.
Apple & Spice Filling
- In a large bowl, toss together apples, brown sugar, corn flour, cardamom, cinnamon, lemon juice, and maple syrup until the apples are well coated.
- Spoon apple mixture evenly over cooled pecan crust.
Crumb Topping
- Mix all crumb topping dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Stir in oil and mix until crumbly with pea-sized lumps.
- Evenly distribute the crumb topping mixture over the apple mixture.
- Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes, or until apples are fork-tender, and, crumb topping is golden brown and crispy. Cool for 30 minutes or longer, before cutting into squares.
- Serve with the vanilla frozen concoction of your choice: ice cream, nice cream, frozen yogurt, etc.