Friday, March 11, 2011

Apple Struesel Bars

Okay so I know Summer is coming up soon but I guess maybe because of the fall like weather we are having right now in Belgium I have been craving apple and pumpkin flavors. So I decided on apple. I love everything apple. My kitchen is even done in apple haha. So I searched for something I could do with apples and Kim from lovin in the oven had a really yummy recipe. Below are my results.

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(picture does not do it justice, I am not a photographer so eh haha)

Ingredients

SWEET PASTRY:

* 2 c. flour
* 1/2 c. sugar
* 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 1 c. real butter, softened (no substitutions!)
* 1 egg, beaten

APPLE FILLING:

* 1/2 c. white sugar
* 1/4 c. flour
* 1 tsp. cinnamon (I used about 3 teaspoons.. I LOVE cinnamon)
* 4 c. (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (I used 4 Braeburn apples)

GLAZE:

* 2 c. powdered sugar
* About 3 Tbsp. milk (whole milk is best)
* 1 tsp. almond extract (I used vanilla extract)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until you have pea-sized crumbles. Gently mix in beaten egg.( I used a fork & it worked great)
3. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish.
4. To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. When finished, allow to cool completely.
5. To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Place glaze in a Ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden (you can place it in the freezer to hurry things along). Cut into bars and serve. ( Instead of a ziploc bag I used a whisk and drizzled it that way. It saved me the hassle of having to use the bag etc etc.)

Enjoy! My husband loved this. We put our leftovers in the fridge and had it for breakfast this morning. It was delish!

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