Apple Crumble Fruit Bars
These home-baked bars are just sweet enough for kids to gobble up, but are made with apples, pears and Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor. They have an irresistible buttery crust that doubles as a crumb topping.
Makes 24 bars
Total Time: 2 hours, 43 minutes (includes cooling time)
Active Time: 20 minutes
Apple Filling
1 cup Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor
2 large sweet apples, such as golden delicious, peeled, cored and diced into ½-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 ripe pear, preferably Bartlett, peeled, cored and diced (about 1 cup)
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
- Stir 1 cup Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor, apples, pear, ½ cup sugar, corn starch and cinnamon together in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir constantly. Remove from heat when mixture bubbles and thickens.
Crust and Topping
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
½ cup chopped walnuts, optional
3 tablespoons sugar
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment. Pulse several times to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle ¼ cup Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor over the crumbly mixture, and pulse again to moisten. Open lid and squeeze a handful of the mixture together. If it holds together it is moist enough. If it doesn’t hold together, repeat drizzling and pulsing with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Juicy Juice® 100% juice, apple flavor. Transfer ½ cup of the crumbly mixture to a small bowl and set aside. Transfer the remaining crumbly mixture to the prepared baking dish and press into the bottom to form a smooth surface with the back of your fingers.
- Top the crust with the apple and pear mixture, spreading it out evenly. Stir oats, walnuts (if using) and 3 tablespoons sugar into the ½ cup of crumbly mixture to make topping. Sprinkle topping over the apple mixture. Bake until the fruit bubbles along the edges and the topping is golden (42 to 50 minutes).
- Let cool and then chill completely. Cut into 24 bars before serving.
