These soft baked Spiced Apple Bars are filled with your favorite fall spices, stuffed with an entire cup of chopped apples, and topped with a rich, brown sugar buttercream! All the smells and flavors of early fall wrapped up in one dessert!
Have you been to an apple orchard yet this season? We were just scoping out the local orchards in our area and trying to decide which ones to try first. Come to find out, we moved right in the middle of a handful of orchards. I am soon going to be surrounded with all kinds of fresh picked apples! And my poor oven is going to see endless apple recipes!
In anticipation of all of the fresh fall apples, I, of course, had to pick up some from the store and make these spiced apple bars with brown sugar buttercream frosting.
All the smells and flavors of early fall wrapped up in one dessert! These soft bars are filled with your favorite fall spices and stuffed with an entire cup of chopped apples. Forget plain buttercream frosting.
This buttercream is made with brown sugar and cinnamon. The flavor of the frosting ties together the spices of the bars with the rich brown sugar buttercream.
And if you don’t like fall desserts? Make these bars so that your house will smell amazing for the rest of the day, and give the bars away to someone who likes apple bars!
The smell is incredible and makes it difficult to wait for the bars to cool so you can frost them and dig in!
- For the Bars
- 1/2 C butter, softened
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/4 C sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 C white whole wheat or all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1 C finely chopped apples
- For the Frosting
- 2 C confectioner’s sugar
- 1/2 C butter, softened
- 1/3 C brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×9 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla extract until creamy.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and cardamom.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until combined. Stir in chopped apples.
- Press dough into the bottom of prepared baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bars just start to turn light golden brown. Do not over bake.
- Remove dish to wire rack to cool. While bars are cooling, beat together frosting ingredients for frosting until light and fluffy.
- Spread frosting over cooled bars. Cut into bars and serve.
Heather Kinnaird
Wednesday 28th of September 2016
it is still too hot for me to head to our apple orchards, but I am dying to get picking, ans then ale up a batch of these bars
Bonnie
Thursday 8th of October 2015
Thank you for posting this one! I baked it this morning to bring in for my office ... after measuring out the dry ingredients last night to save some time ... it's been a big hit. I had to use an 8x8 pan since I don't have a 9x9, and now I will go pick that size up. I think mine are too thick (took longer to cool and they're kind of topply), but will make again this weekend for new neighbors! Thank you! Now to go back through your recipes, since I just "found" you from blog-hopping...
Rochelle
Saturday 12th of September 2015
Great recipe, I added a 1/2 c. of chopped walnuts and it added an extra kick to them. The buttercream is wonderful. Thanks!!
Jessica@A Kitchen Addiction
Saturday 12th of September 2015
I'm so glad you liked them! Great idea to add walnuts!
Lindsay @ Life, Love and Sugar
Saturday 12th of September 2015
These bars sound amazing! All my favorite fall flavors!
Trish - Mom On Timeout
Friday 11th of September 2015
Your frosting to bar ration is SPOT ON. I'll need at least two.