Everyone loves a warm, gooey, flaky apple pie, especially come fall. We took the classic recipe and turned it into indulgently delicious squares. They also happen to be healthy for you: they’re filled with good fats, natural sweeteners, fibre and vitamin-rich apples, of course! A date caramel sauce is the finisher, as it gets generously drizzled on top for extra sweetness. You’ll fall so in love with the simple, healthy caramel sauce you may even want to double the recipe for it and spread it over toast, sliced apples or eat it by the spoonful.
ingredients
Crust and Topping
Filling
Date Caramel
directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Make the crust. In a food processor, pulse the almond flour, oats, coconut sugar and sea salt using the “S” blade until combined.
Add the coconut oil and egg, pulsing until the mixture is crumbly like sand.
Take half of the mixture, place it to the side and mix in the roughly chopped walnuts (this will be used as the topping). The other half of the dough will become the bottom crust.
Oil a 7×11 baking dish (or put parchment paper down) and place half the dough into the dish. Push it down using your hands or the back of a measuring cup until it is evenly spread out. Poke a few holes with a fork for heat to escape.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden and remove.
In a bowl, mix together the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon and coconut sugar.
Place a pot on the stove over medium-low heat and melt coconut oil. Add in the apple mixture and stir until apples begin to soften (this will take about 10 minutes). The apple juices should be mostly evaporated at this point. The longer you allow to stew, the softer and mushier the apples will become. If you prefer a chunkier texture, spoon the cooked apples over top of the crust and spread out evenly. If you prefer a smoother texture, mash the apples with the back of a spoon to create a paste, then spread evenly over the crust.
Take the remaining crust and disperse it over the apples in crumbly chunks. It should look rustic, so there’s no need to place it over gently.
Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Take the dessert out of the oven when ready, allow to cool completely to room temperature before slicing into squares. Cut them into 8 even pieces.
As the apple pie squares are baking, make the date caramel sauce.
Place all ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender (if you have a mini blender or processor, use that instead) and blitz until creamy. If it’s too thick, add more water, about 1 Tbsp at a time.
Once the squares are cut and cooled, drizzle the date caramel sauce all over.
