Apple Bars

Apple Bars, My Grandma's Recipe

 Hey y'all! Well it seems that fall is here, the temperature has dropped even here in AZ to the 90's! WAHOO!! haha! I know, I know that's not really cool, but when you go from 115+ everyday it feels like a drastic drop to us. And because of that I'm really in the fall mood, dying to bake and use all those beautiful apples that are showing up in my stores and pumpkin... I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! I don't know about y'all but this is my favorite Food time of the year, all the warm flavors and cinnamony goodness, just makes my soul sing.

I'm actually pulling this recipe from the archives and updating it. Believe it or not this blog was not always popular... Lol! I started it back in the spring of 2009 and the only person who read it was me. And there's quite a few posts that never got the attention they deserved, or good pictures either. So I'm going through and updating some of them, and in this case actually changing the recipe a bit. Not a lot really, but I did a few things. First off though I adore the original of this, what I really wanted was a thicker crust, because well... I LOVE this crust! I could eat just that and be happy. (I'm weird, but we've already established my insanity.) And I used less butter than the original called for, and upped the spices just a tad. Otherwise it is exactly the way Grandma made it! The weird thing is I don't remember this recipe from my childhood. There's very few of Grandma's recipes I don't remember, but this is one of them. Why that is, I don't know, and it seems a tragedy because they are AWESOME! In fact I'm thinking these need to make an appearance to the dessert table this Thanksgiving instead of the typical Apple Pie! Oh yeah... ;-)

Ingredients:
2-3 Apples (I like gala or granny smith), peeled and thinly sliced

Crust:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Oatmeal
1 cup Brown Sugar (or Splenda Brown Sugar Blend)
1/2 cup Melted Margarine

Sauce:
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar (or Splenda)
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions:
Peel and slice the apples, and set aside in a little bit of lemon juice. Mix together the crust ingredients and reserve 1 cup of mixture for the top and pat the rest into a 8x8 pan. Cover with the sliced apples. In a medium saucepan boil the sauce ingredients for 5 minutes. Should be thick and bubbly. Pour over apples and cover with reserved crust mixture. Bake for 45 minutes at 350F degrees. Best if served warm (but is also delicious cold), may be topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

Review:
This is a very loved recipe in my house. I made it a few years ago for my Sister In Law's birthday and it's since become my easy fall back dessert that impresses and is like comfort food! My Little Sous Chef thinks it's the most yummy "cookie" and loves the cinnamon apples. Be sure to give this a try for the holidays, a wonderful substitution to the typical apple pie! 5 Stars.

Happy Baking!

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