Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars

These Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars are the perfect dessert: a "buttery" base with tender, warmly spiced, caramel-flavoured apples and nutty crumble topping. They're great for Thanksgiving and Christmas and are an excellent alternative to Apple Pie!

Why does this recipe use brown rice flour?

You can use white rice flour, but I found the texture was much better with brown rice flour. If you can't find brown rice flour in your local supermarket, you'll be able to find it in local health stores or online.

Why you'll love these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars:

• they're undetectably vegan and gluten-free
• they have a "buttery" base and crumble topping
• they're filled with tender, juicy apples
• they taste like salted caramel
• they're warmly spiced and fragrant
• they're easy to make
• they're refined sugar free 
• they're an excellent make-ahead dessert
• they're perfect for sharing
• they're great for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

How to make these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.

• Mix together the ingredients for the dough in a glass mixing bowl.

• Transfer one half into a square baking tin.

Tip: Line the tin with greased baking paper to make it easier to remove the bars after.

• Use your fingers to push the mixture all the way to the edges, then use a spatula to press down on it until the surface is completely even.

• Bake in oven for 10 minutes - you'll be baking this again so you don't want to over-bake at this stage!

• Add the oats for the crumble topping to the remaining half of the dough and mix well. 
• Place in the fridge while you make the rest - this will help it firm up and make it easier to crumble over the top after.

• Place the coconut oil, coconut sugar, apples, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a pan.

• Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until soft.
• Dissolve the cornflour (cornstarch) in a tiny splash of water in a small bowl.
• Once the apples have cooked, add the cornflour and water mixture and mix well.
• Once the apples have thickened (takes about 30 seconds), turn off the heat.

• Place the cooked apples over the cooked base until completely evenly covered.

• Use your fingers to crumble the rest of the dough mixture over the top until it is all used up and the apples are completely covered.

• Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

• Leave to cool completely before cutting.

How long do these Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars keep for?

These Apple Pie Bars do taste best when fresh, but they keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.

Substitutions you can make to this recipe:

• you can substitute the coconut oil with coconut butter
• you can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc
• the ground almonds (almond meal) can be substituted with ground walnuts
• for a nut-free version, use ground sunflower seeds instead of ground almonds and use a nut-free plant-based milk
• the cornflour (cornstarch) can be replaced with tapioca starch
• you can replace the brown rice flour with plain flour if you’re not gluten-free.
• you can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy milk etc
• if you're not into apples, you can use any type of fruit: pears, peaches, plums, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, raspberries etc (just adjust cooking time accordingly).

Substitutions to be careful of:

• you can use white rice flour but the texture is much better with brown rice flour.

More vegan apple desserts:

• Apple Pie
• Apple Crisp
• Apple Upside Down Cake
• Apple Crumble Bars
• Apple Muffins
• Apple Bread
• Apple Cake

If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.

Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars

These Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars are the perfect dessert: a "buttery" base with tender, warmly spiced, caramel-flavoured apples and nutty crumble topping. They're great for Thanksgiving and Christmas and are an excellent alternative to Apple Pie!

4.60 from 15 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free apple pie, vegan apple pie, vegan thanksgiving recipe

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 16 bars

Calories: 186kcal

Author: Rhian Williams

Ingredients

For the base:

• ▢ 30 g (⅛ cup) coconut oil  (or sub coconut butter)
• ▢ 10 tablespoons maple syrup  (or sub any other similar sweetener)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
• ▢ 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) *
• ▢ 150 g (1 cup) brown rice flour ** (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
• ▢ Pinch salt

For the crumble topping:

• ▢ 25 g (¼ cup) rolled oats (ensure gluten-free if necessary)

For the apples:

• ▢ 4 apples , cored, peeled and finely sliced (around 900g/32oz in total)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coconut oil (or sub coconut butter)
• ▢ 6 tablespoons coconut sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ Pinch salt to taste
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornflour (cornstarch) (or sub tapioca starch)

Instructions

For the base:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
• Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave
• Add the maple syrup, milk, ground almonds, brown rice flour and salt and mix well – add an extra splash of milk if it’s looking too dry to combine
• 
Divide the dough in half
• Transfer one half of the dough into a square or rectangular baking tin lined with greased baking paper – I used a 23cm/9inch square baking tin
• Use your fingers to push the mixture all the way to the edges, then use a spatula to press down on it until the surface is completely even
• Bake in oven for 10 minutes
• Add the oats for the crumble topping to the remaining half of the dough and mix well
• Place in fridge while you make the rest (this will help it firm up and make it easier to crumble over the top after)

For the apples:

• Place the apples, coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a pan with a lid

• Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until softened

• Dissolve the cornflour in a tiny splash of water in a small bowl

• Once the apples have cooked, add the cornflour and water mixture and mix well

• Once the apples have thickened (takes about 30 seconds), turn off the heat

To assemble:

• Place the cooked apples over the cooked base until completely evenly covered
• Use your fingers to crumble the rest of the dough mixture over the top until it is all used up and the apples are completely covered
• Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden brown
• Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares
• Tastes best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days

Notes

*You can alternatively use almond flour

**You can use white rice flour but the texture is much better with brown rice flour.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Pie Bars

Amount Per Serving

Calories 186 Calories from Fat 63

% Daily Value*

Fat 7g11%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Sodium 13mg1%

Potassium 110mg3%

Carbohydrates 29g10%

Fiber 3g12%

Sugar 16g18%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 25IU1%

Vitamin C 2mg2%

Calcium 40mg4%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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