THE CRUST
Cooking spray
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
FOR THE FILLING
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
FOR THE TOPPING
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
Caramel, for serving
Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9”-x-13” pan with parchment then grease with cooking spray. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix until just combined.
Press into prepared pan about 1/2” up sides. Bake until lightly golden, 20 minutes. In a large bowl, toss apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt together. Spread apples over crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pecans, brown sugar, and salt. Stir in melted butter until coarse clumps form. Sprinkle crumb topping over apples and bake until top is golden and apples are soft, about 1 hour. Let cool at least 15 minutes then slice into squares and drizzle with caramel before serving. Great with vanilla ice cream!