When I stumbled across this recipe, I just so happened to have three small apples in my refrigerator that were just dying to be used. If you want a house that smells like fall (and heaven), a happy belly, and an even happier husband… go make this right now.

Seriously, they are so good.

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Apple Filling:

• 2 large apples or 3 small apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• caramel sauce for topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.

Make the crust: Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes while you prepare the filling and streusel.

Make the apple filling: Combine the sliced apples, flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until all of the apples are evenly coated. Set aside.

Make the streusel: Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F. Evenly layer the apples on top of the warm crust. It will look like there are too many apple slices, so layer them tightly and press them down to fit.

Sprinkle the apple layer with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown. The photo below is before it was baked.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. I cut them into 16 smaller bars, but you could cut them into 12 larger bars. Once cut, drizzle some caramel sauce on top of each.

Please note: this is not my original recipe, it belongs to one of my favorite bloggers and you can see it here. She gives instructions for how to make a homemade salted caramel sauce !