Home » Kitchen » Baking Recipes + Tips » Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars Recipe

Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars Recipe

Tuck into one of these apple butter oatmeal bars for a delicious, spiced taste of fall.

Slightly tart apple butter laced with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice is sandwiched between brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal streusel for an easy-to-make dessert that is not too sweet. Add in a few pecans or walnuts to elevate that streusel just a bit.

If you are looking for a delightful and easy-to-make fall treat that is perfect for after-school snacking, after-dinner dessert, or (let’s just say it) the perfect breakfast treat, then these apple butter oatmeal bars are the thing. Regarding breakfast, the bars are made with sugar-free apple butter and oatmeal, so…we don’t have to stretch too far to say that they are breakfast-worthy…right?

But the real beauty of these apple butter oatmeal bars is their simplicity. You most likely have what you need to make it in your cupboard right now! Don’t have apple butter? Well, I’ve got you covered there. Here’s my recipe for sugar-free apple butter.

Ingredients for Apple Butter bars, butter, apple butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

Don’t be troubled by the fact that this apple butter is sugar-free. To begin with; there is enough sugar in the streusel. But even on its own, the apple butter is plenty sweet enough without added sugar.

easily substitute the apple butter

Don’t have apples? If you have applesauce, you can make apple butter from it. Simply put some applesauce in a heavy bottomed pot with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice (1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon each of cloves and allspice for every 16 ounces of applesauce). Cook over low heat, often stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick, for 45 minutes until you can put a dollop on a plate and a pool of liquid doesn’t separate from the dollop.

Some of these links may be Amazon affiliate links and I may earn a small commission off of the sale of these products to help defray the costs of operating this site, but the price you are charged is not affected. You can see my full disclosure policy here.

Just not feeling apples or apple butter? No hard feelings here. Consider…

  • Pumpkin Butter I can honestly say that this is some deee-licious pumpkin butter
  • Fig Preserves
  • Plum Jam
  • Apricot Preserves
  • Pear Jam
  • Any kind of preserves, really, just consider if you are looking for a fall-ish or summer-ish feel to your oatmeal bars.
Cut apple butter bars with oats in a scoop in the background.

these apple butter oatmeal bars are a great make-ahead dessert or treat

You can make these apple butter oatmeal bars ahead of time and they’ll still be fantastic. You have options:

  • Prepare and bake as written. The bars will keep at room temperature for two to three days. After that, store them in the fridge for up to five days.
  • Prepare and bake as written. Let the bars cool, and then slice them. Once sliced, transfer them to an airtight container and store for up to two months. Depending on how ‘airtight’ your airtight container is, you may want to wrap them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap prior to putting them in the container.
  • Prepare up until baking. Wrap well the baking tray with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator for twelve hours, and then let the baking dish come to room temperature before baking as instructed.

nuts or no nuts

I’ve never met a dessert not made better by adding nuts. Hubby, on the other hand, holds the entirely opposite opinion. Often I will make our baked treats half nuts and half without. I think both pecans and walnuts are equally delicious in the streusel topping.

use your hands in mixing up the crumb streusel for these apple butter oatmeal bars

Hand holding streusel topping.

Get your hands involved in mixing the crust and streusel topping. The warmth from your fingers does a great job incorporating the butter into the flour, sugar, and oats. Your goal is for all of the dry ingredients to be completely combined with butter, and your fingers do a great job at it.

Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars

lynn
Slightly tart apple butter laced with cinnamon, cloves, and allspice is sandwiched between brown sugar, cinnamon, and oatmeal streusel for an easy-to-make dessert that is not too sweet. Add in a few pecans or walnuts to elevate that streusel just a bit.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Baking Recipes + Tips
Cuisine American
Servings 18
Calories 307 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups of rolled oats
  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 cup of butter at room temperature, cut into cubes.
  • 2 cups of apple butter
  • 3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F
  • Line a 9" X 13" baking pan with parchment paper.
  • Combine oats, flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.
  • With your fingers, work the butter into the flour and oats mixture until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the butter.
  • Remove and set aside two cups of the butter/flour mixture.
  • Press the remaining butter & flour mixture into the parchment paper-lined baking pan, working it into the corners.
  • Spread two cups of apple butter over the crust.
  • If using nuts, gently toss the nuts with the remaining streusel topping.
    Add nuts to streusel topping.
  • Spread the streusel topping over the apple butter.
  • Bake for 30-35 minutes until streusel begins to brown.
  • Let cool in pan.
  • Remove bar by lifting parchment paper out of the pan.
  • Cut bars.
  • Serve immediately or store. See notes for make-ahead and storage tips.

Notes

You can make these apple butter oatmeal bars ahead of time and they'll still be fantastic. You have options:
  • Prepare and bake as written. The bars will keep at room temperature for two to three days. After that, store them in the fridge for up to five days.
  • Prepare and bake as written. Let the bars cool, and then slice them. Once sliced, transfer them to an airtight container and store them for up to two months. Depending on how 'airtight' your airtight container is, you may want to wrap them in aluminum foil or plastic wrap before putting them in the container.
  • Prepare up until baking. Wrap well the baking tray with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator for twelve hours, and then let the baking dish come to room temperature before baking as instructed.

Nutrition

Calories: 307kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 122mgPotassium: 114mgFiber: 2gSugar: 23gVitamin A: 325IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
Keyword apple butter, bars, oatmeal
Well, what did you think?Please rate this recipe here! It helps other readers and also helps to support our site.

Bookmark this page or pin the following image to refer back to this Apple Butter Oatmeal Bars Recipe in the future.

Apple Butter Oatmeal bars with pecans, oats and apple butter.
Thanks so much for spending a few minutes of your busy day with me!

To ensure you don’t miss future content, pop your email in the pale green box on the right or click here. I usually send one email weekly, so I won’t inundate your inbox. I’m sensitive to an overflowing email inbox!  

We will only use your email address to send you emails, no more than 1-2 weekly. In addition, you will have access to my growing library of knit & crochet patterns and other printables. Check back often as this library will continue to grow.   You can unsubscribe anytime by emailing me or clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of all emails.

And you can access many of the products I refer to on my Nourish and Nestle Amazon Page. You can access it here.

So, if you’d like to participate in the ‘subscriber benefit’ action, simply subscribe to Nourish and Nestle here or use the form on the right sidebar. It’s slightly towards the top.

I have sent all my subscribers the link to the Subscriber Benefits Library. If you missed it or misplaced it, let me know.

Until next time…

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!

Similar Posts

2 Comments

  1. very delicious, very easy as I made it with an apple butter jarred by my uncle. when cooled they cut very well and held together . Will definitely male again.

    1. Thanks so much for the great review, Barb! It’s been a while since I made these and you made my mouth water thinking how good they are!

      Have a great day,

      Lynn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating