Paleo Apple Pie Bars (AIP, Vegan)
These paleo apple pie bars are perfect for fall holidays, or just a fun weekend treat! They’re grain free, as well as AIP and vegan.
I’m not going to lie, I don’t love making pie crust from scratch. It’s just never been much of my thing. I was spoiled with store-bought pie crusts when I was eating grains, and I just never got into making grain free pie crusts. I thought I would just get by without it until I realized how much my blog was really lacking a pie presence! So I decided to go for the best of both worlds with apple pie bars!
These apple pie bars are much easier than making a traditional apple pie with a lattice. Not only does it save time when you’re trying to prep for a busy holiday dinner, but it just leaves less room for fuss! No rolling a dough, no slicing up a lattice, and way less room for error. Yes, please!
Not only are these apple pie bars easy to make, but they appease do many different diet restrictions. If you have gluten-free, nut free and vegan folks coming to your fall and winter gatherings, these apple pie bars are perfect. They’re egg free, grain free, nut free and dairy free, but are still made with real food ingredients. No fake fats, no weird processed sugars, just all the real stuff!
Along with the apple pie bars themselves, this recipe also features an optional vegan caramel sauce. It really ups the sweetness factor in these bars and maybe a bit too sweet for some who are used to less sweet desserts, but it’s undeniably delicious.
The Ingredients You’ll Need For the Paleo Apple Pie Bars
Tigernut flour
Tigernut flour is one of my favorite grain-free flours! It’s very similar to almond flour (it’s not a nut, but a tuber) and it works great in this recipe.
Tapioca Starch
Tapioca starch is a great binder in recipes like this. You can buy it online and find it in most health food stores.
Apples
The apples are the star of the show here! I used pink lady apples, as they’re a great mix of sweet and tart.
Coconut oil and coconut butter
Coconut oil and coconut butter are great for making the crust slightly creamy and delicious. Coconut butter is also known as coconut cream concentrate and can be found online and in most health food stores.
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PrintPaleo Apple Pie Bars (AIP, Vegan)
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings 1x
Description
These apple pie bars are the perfect paleo fall treat!
Ingredients
For the apple filling
- 3 cups pink lady apple, chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tsp arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- Juice of half a lemon
For the crust
- 1 1/4 cup tigernut flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp coconut butter, melted (see notes for method)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the optional caramel sauce
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
For the apple pie bars
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 9×9″ baking pan with parchment paper
- Using a saucepan, combine the apple filling ingredients and set over medium heat. Stir to combine and simmer for 5-8 minutes (stirring often) or until the apples soften. Set aside.
- For the crust, combine the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Stir in the wet ingredients and stir until the dough is fully combined.
- Using the square baking sheet, flatten the majority of the crust onto the bottom of the pan until it’s evenly thin. You’ll save about 3 tbsp of the crust dough for the topping.
- Par-bake the crust in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Layer the apple filling on top of the crust and evenly distribute. Crumble the remainder of the crust topping over the apples and slightly flatten it.
- Bake the bars in the oven for another 25-30 minutes or until the crust topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before carefully removing from the pan. Allow to cool further and slice into 9 bars. Top with optional caramel sauce and compliant ice cream if desired.
For the optional caramel sauce
- Combine the coconut cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring to a low boil, and reduce to a low simmer, stirring often. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the caramel is reduced and browned.
Notes
- It’s best to melt the coconut butter using a double boiler method. Do not microwave coconut butter or it will burn.
- All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 45
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 319
- Fat: 21.3g
- Carbohydrates: 19.3g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 2.4g
Keywords: apple pie, paleo apple pie
This looks amazing! Could I sub almond flour for the tigernut if I’m not concerned about nut allergies? It’s what I have on hand so figure it would be easier if it’s comparable. Thanks!
Thanks Roz! I haven’t tested it but it should be okay. Let me know if you try!
Can i make this without using coconut butter?
I haven’t tried it… you can try to use something like palm shortening but I think coconut butter works best.
Hi, I don’t have tapioca starch. Can I use arrowroot instead?
It would likely swap just fine
I only have an 8×8 pan… will it work?
Yes! 🙂
Do you peel the apples?
You do 🙂
Michelle, these bars are fantastic! In fact every recipe of yours that I have made is 5 star. yesterday i made the apple cranberry sauce and it is truly the best cranberry sauce I have ever had- and i am almost 70 so I have eaten a lot of cranberries over the years. The cinnamon was a great addition . My husband and I appreciate your recipe writing gift!
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Thank you so so much, Marianne!!!
Coconut sugar is not allowed on the aip diet. Suggestion for substitute? Applesauce? Quantity?
Coconut sugar is actually AIP compliant 🙂
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These look so delicious! Is there anything I could sub for coconut butter? My son unfortunately is allergic, and the oil isn’t too hard to find a sub for but I have no idea where to start for coconut butter!
Thank you! I haven’t tried it without coconut butter so I’m not sure of a good swap. Sorry!
How about Palm Shortening?
That was my first thought, too. Great minds
Palm shortening may work 🙂
Hi! Can I sub the tigernut flour for coconut flour or cassava?
I haven’t tried that, but let me know if you do!
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Wow I have been on AIP for almost a month now, and just needed a sweet treat for a change. I just made these, and they are the most delicious thing ever! My husband tried them and kept asking, are you sure you can have these?! 🙂 Thank you so much. I’m so happy I’ve found your site, I now feel that I can do this!
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Thank you so much Kenia!! Thrilled you liked them!
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WOW! This is so good!
A few changes. I used 2 Tbs of allulose for pie sweetener. I used half coconut oil and 1/2 ghee for fat. For pie filling, used allulose again and upped the apples to 3 1/2 cups. For the caramel, I used sukrin gold brown sugar, even though I knew it wouldn’t brown correctly, and it didn’t. So it is a beige color, but it kept my carbs down. I also added a pinch of cloves. I love all of your recipes. You are always my go to for just about anything. You are a true gastronomic in the kitchen! Thanks, Michelle!
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Thank you so so much, Carrie!! Thanks for sharing your swaps!! 🙂
These are so good! And the caramel sauce just makes it even better! Will be making more for Thanksgiving!
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OMG, this was so amazingly good. I brought it to a Thanksgiving potluck today and a lot of people who were gluten free and dairy-free were very excited to have a dessert. I doubled the amount of the caramel sauce, thinking it could be used with other desserts too. That sauce I could just drink on its own, it’s that good. I was really excited to have one piece remaining for me to take home. I will definitely make this again. So few people are aware of tigernut flour, and I love to introduce people to it.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipes you share. I love your recent cookbook and when I’m looking for an AIP recipe, yours is one of the first websites I head to because I have never had a bad recipe that you’ve written. I went to a Thanksgiving potluck today and out of the 4 things I made to bring with me, only one of them was not one of your recipes 🙂
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Oh my gosh! I made these yesterday so I could have a Christmas AIP treat, they are soooo good! You would not have to be on AIP to go crazy for these. I think this would be great with peaches in the summer. Great recipe, Michelle! I will have to try your others now.
Thank you so much, Claudia! So glad you liked it!!
This was my very first time experimenting with tigernut flour so I was excited & nervous. I found that in the end the bars did not hold together well at all, The crust texture was soggy so do you think that amount of oil as per the recipe can be too much perhaps? For mine it seemed excessive. Can you shed any light?
Has anyone tried other apples? We only have HoneyCrisp, and a LOT of them.
Honeycrisp will work! 🙂
I just made these for Thanksgiving and they are delicious!!! Easy to make and such great flavor. I’m always looking for egg free desserts and this will be a go to fo sure. Thank you!
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I love it! I made it twice, the second time I used arrowroot strach instead of tapioca but it was just as good. Thanks for this recipe ❤️
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This works very well with fresh peaches and blueberries for a summertime treat. Great even without the sauce.
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Yum! Love that idea!
Hello! I love all of your recipes and have made several. The Thanksgiving coleslaw was delicious!! I made these the night before Thanksgiving but the next morning the crust was super moist and wet. I was afraid to eat it. It came out of the oven looking like a bar crust but the next day was very moist. The recipe didn’t say anything about refrigerating them so I didn’t. I am not sure if that’s how the tigernut four is or if they should have gone in the fridge. They were also so thin it turned into a cobbler and not bars. The taste was amazing though! Reminded me of my mom’s apple cobbler in a way without the refined sugar and all. Thanks for your insight because i hope to make these again and don’t want to be discouraged to do so.
Glad you liked it!! I would refrigerate it, yes! Refrigerating/cooling it helps to firm things up a bit so that may help next time!
Absolutely Amazing! Loved by all…even my gluten & dairy eating husband who normally doesn’t even like apple pie. I was able to have dessert this Thanksgiving because of this recipe. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!
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YAY, so glad you were able to enjoy!!
These look amazing!
So so delicious!! Mine didn’t come out as pretty as yours, but they are so good! I used gala apples since that’s what I had on hand. My husband loved them too and he eats gluten, dairy, and regular sugar, but he couldn’t tell the difference. Thank you always for your amazing recipes!
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These look amazing!! Do you think I would have any success if I added some collagen powder into the mix for more protein?
I’m not sure. It may throw off the liquid ratio so not sure exactly how to adjust. If you try it, let me know!!