Apple, Apple - A, A, A. Baby, Baby - buh, buh, buh

This past week we had a baby shower for the final "department" baby (of THIS year at least!).  Unfortunately, before we were able to have a shower, Nour went into preterm labor and had to be on bedrest; so, we did not have a shower before little Ahmed was born.  However, the benefit of that is that he was at the shower!!!! 

Soooo cute!  I wanted to make a yummy sounding white bean dip but did not have a chance to go to the grocery store (plus, I'm sure they were CRAZY as we have a predicted snow "storm" coming! HA!), so I needed to make something that I already had ingredients for.  Well, last week I bought a bag of apples that aren't quite crunchy enough for my snacking pleasure; I figured an apple bar would be perfect.

 After a bit of blog browsing, I found this recipe from Our Best Bites.  It was very simple and had a shortbread crust, which is one of my favorite things!  And just look at the gooeyness of the apple filling!

I took some to our clinic nurses and they even requested the recipe.  The recipe calls for peeled apples, but I left the peel on with no adverse side effects!  :-)  Please check out other great sweets at Sweet as Sugar Saturday Sweets.

Apple Streusel Bars adapted from Our Best Bites
SWEET PASTRY:
2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. real butter, softened (no substitutions!)
1 egg, beaten

APPLE FILLING:
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 c. (about 3 medium) thinly sliced baking apples (I used Fuji.  Granny Smith or any tart apple would be good.)

GLAZE:
2 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  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 or mix in a food processor and pulse until reaching the pea-sized crumbles. Mix in beaten egg.  Line a 9x13 baking dish with aluminum foil, then spray with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. To prepare apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon and toss with apples. 

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.  Spoon glaze generously over bars. Cut into bars and serve. I got 35 bars.  Enoy!