Starting the weekend off with a celebratory bar like these apple butter bars is just so perfect, especially for this particular Friday. To say that it’s been a really great productive would be an understatement. If you guys have been reading and following along this week on both HBH and Instagram, then you know that we’ve been working on a huge shoot with Anthropologie in the new studio barn space. It was a long four-day shoot, but it was also amazing, and has me both elated and inspired. I cannot wait to share all the photos and videos we captured. The space looks stunning, the food was delicious, and I honestly feel so grateful and so excited. It was a GOOD week! A fun, creative, and busy week, spent with an incredible team, in an incredible space, and with incredible weather. It could not have gone better. Going to share some more behind the scenes photos in Sunday’s Favorite’s post, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Fun photos to come! In the meantime, I want to dive right in and start telling you guys about these bars. One, these bars truly are one of the most mouth wateringly delicious apple bars I’ve tasted. And two, I’m a little bit exhausted from one of our longest shooting days of the week and ready for a shower, some food, and then my bed. SO, let’s talk apple butter bars and get on with our weekend! Details…because it’s all about the details. As you can get from the recipe title, these bars are focused on two things, autumn apples and streusel. Lots and lots of streusel. If there’s one thing I love paired with a baked apples, it’s a good, buttery, cinnamony streusel. Just typing that out has my mouth watering. To start, you’ll need to make the cinnamon and butter filled streusel base. It’s a pretty simple mix up of flour, oats, pecans, and a generous amount of both cinnamon and butter. Of course. Press some of this streusel mix into a pan and pre-bake it. While that’s happening, make the apple filled center of the bars. Around this time last year, I made my first batch of homemade apple butter and fell in love. So when the first batch of honey crisp apples arrived a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to make fresh apple butter again (except this time I made it in the instant pot…do you want the recipe?). I made a double batch, with this recipe in mind, because the sound of an apple butter bar was just too good. If you’ve never made homemade apple butter, this is the fall to do so. This sounds dramatic, but if you LOVE apples and jammy type spreads, then this apple butter will be life changing… Anyway, I layered the pre-baked crust with a good amount my homemade apple butter, then I layered the fresh honey crisp apples over top of the apple butter. From here, I topped off the apples with a full layer of streusel and baked the bars in the oven until they were golden, bubbly, and smelling like all kinds of fall deliciousness. Honestly, these are the BEST. Buttery, apple filled, flavored with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, and topped with delicious and perfectly sweet streusel. Really, not much beats that. Enjoy warm or at room temperature, possibly alongside a mug of steaming hot coffee, cider…or maybe even your favorite pumpkin spiced latte?!? Total and complete perfection. Also? If you bake these up this weekend, your house is going to smell like fall, and trust me, it’s going to be amazing. Who’s down? Cool. Cool. Let’s bake! See you all tomorrow for a fun Cocktail Saturday Post! If you make these apple butter bars, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
