Apples - Erin vs. the critters

Our Red Rome apple tree is bursting with apples and falling all over the road and sidewalk. Sometimes they fall and the animals run them all over the roundabout. I find them all over. On weekends I'll wander the roundabout with my bucket to clean up any apples that are traveling the circle. My hope is no one complains and we don't have any issues with the village; it's their fault our tree "moved" closer to the road. I mean, they moved the road closer to our fruit trees. I decided to try these bars for Andy's guys. Use all the apples we can, use bumper crop of apples for good. These bars were very easy. The crust and crumble were easy to stir up, press into the pan and crumble on top of the apples. The apples were simple to peel, slice, add some good spices to, and pile on the par baked crust. The crumble, easy to sprinkle on top. This tasted like a Dutch apple pie without the bother of a crust to make or get settled into the pan. This would be amazing warm with ice cream on top! Oh... that's a good idea, maybe I need to make another!

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars
Crust/Crumble:
3 cups (426 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups (318 g) lightly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups (340 g) salted butter (3 sticks), melted
Apples:
3 pounds crisp apples, like Granny Smith apples or Honey Crisp apples (about 7 medium apples for about 8 cups sliced apples)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (170 g) caramel sauce, plus more for drizzling, if desired
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven (to ensure the crust doesn't get too hard or burn).
Line a 9X13-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper leaving 1-inch overhang on two long sides. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
For the crust, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the melted butter until evenly combined and the mixture forms small clumps.
Remove 2 cups of the mixture and set aside. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Bake for 10 minutes until the crust is lightly set (it will cook more in a later step).
For the apple layer, peel, core and seed the apples. Cut the apples into 1/8-inch slices.
Add the apples and lemon juice to a large bowl and toss together.
Stir in the flour, cinnamon and salt, and mix until evenly combined. Stir in the caramel sauce.
Spread the sliced apples evenly over the crust.
Break apart the reserved streusel into small pieces and sprinkle over the apples.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the apples are tender and the streusel is golden. Tent the top of the pan loosely with foil partway through baking if the streusel is browning too quickly before the apples are tender.
Remove the bars from the oven and let cool. The apple filling will thicken as it cools.
Slice into squares and drizzle with additional caramel sauce. Serve chilled, at room temperature or lightly warmed with ice cream.