Friday, July 8, 2011

Apple Streusel Bars

These bars are absolutely AMAZING. They taste similar to apple pie, but much easier to make! We made them last weekend, and 4 of us devoured the whole pan (gross, I know, but you weren't there!) in less than an hour, they were SO good! To make things even easier, substitute the apple filling below for one jar of our homemade apple pie filling!

Sweet Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter (REAL butter here, people, no substitutions!)
1 egg, beaten

Apple Filling: (or one jar of our homemade filling)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups (about 3 medium) sliced, peeled baking apples (Granny Smith or Gala work great)

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
About 3 Tablespoons milk (whole milk is best)

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.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture into bottom of pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

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.

To prepare glaze: whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Transfer glaze to 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 if you want to hurry things along) Cut into bars and serve. Yield: 20-24 bars.

Source: Our Best Bites

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