Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars are an actual thing.

They're made with a shortcake crust, mascarpone filling, and honeycrisp apple and oat topping.

Truly the perfect dessert bars for the holiday season!

Apple Fritter Shortcake Bars stacked atop of one another.

What makes these apple shortcake bars special?

The first layer is a super simple shortcake recipe that I made just a bit lighter.

Typical shortcake recipes call for butter, sugar, flour and cornstarch. I cut back on some of those things, but kept the shortcake just as buttery and delicious as it should be. It comes out of the oven browned and crispy and melt-in-your-mouth.

Sigh...

The second layer is a delicious light and fluffy mascarpone filling made with pure vanilla extract, egg (to hold it all together) and honey.

The third layer is the apple fritter part. Just imagine an apple fritter with those chunks of cinnamony apples throughout. Ahhh...

There's so much of that going on in this dessert.

It's apple slices tossed in more honey, old-fashioned rolled oats and cinnamon.

They're meant to go on top of the mascarpone filling and baked to perfection, but I won't judge if you end up eating them straight out of the bowl.

Side shot of apple fritter bars on white parchment paper.

Overheard shot of baked apple fritter bars prior to being sliced on white parchment paper.

All the ingredients come together perfectly

Each bar has the most amazing mixture of buttery, crispy shortbread, sweet and creamy mascarpone filling and warm cinnamon apples with crunchy oats.

I mean seriously, how can these even be real? I just know you're going to wanna make these apple fritter mascarpone shortcake bars for each and every holiday party this year.

And, it's the perfect recipe to help celebrate National Diabetes Month, as well. Another win-win!

*Dives headfirst into mascarpone filling.*

Here are a few other dessert recipes that are great for the holidays:

Apple Fritter Mascarpone Shortcake Bars

Print Recipe

Apple fritter bars with a shortcake crust, mascarpone filling and honeycrisp apple and oat topping.

Author: Julie Andrews
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 60 mins
Yield: 16 bars 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Baked, Oven
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

Shortcake

8 tablespoons butter, softened
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 cup flour (any variety)
1 tablespoon corn starch
¼ teaspoon coarse salt

Mascarpone Filling

1 (8 oz.) tub mascarpone
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Apple Fritter

1 large or 2 small apples (any variety), sliced
¼ cup rolled old-fashioned oats
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar with a hand mixer, until fluffy. Slowly mix in flour, corn starch and salt, until mixture forms small pea-sized balls (like pie dough). Press into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch brownie pie. Bake 10 minutes, until shortcake starts to rise. Remove from oven and allow to slightly cool.
In a separate mixing bowl, whip mascarpone, honey, egg and vanilla extract with a hand mixer, until fluffy. When shortcake is slightly cooled, pour mixture onto the crust and spread evenly.
In a mixing bowl, toss apple slices, oats, honey and cinnamon until combined. Line apple slices on mascarpone filling, and sprinkle with remaining oat topping. Bake 35-40 minutes, until mascarpone filling is set. Allow to completely cool in the refrigerator or freezer before slicing.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 bar
Calories: 179
Sugar: 9 g
Sodium: 32 mg
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 2 g
Cholesterol: 27 mg

Keywords: easy, oatmeal, oats, apples, mascarpone, apple fritter, fall dessert recipe