My Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-law are quite possibly the best cooks that I have ever met. My sister-in-law makes the world's best apple pie. The crust is flaky
and the apples are sweet. I have no idea how she does it. She has the magic touch.
When my husband and I got married, I had quite the learning curve in terms of cooking. The bar was set very high. Pasta dishes were about the only thing I could make, well and chocolate chip cookies. My husband grew up in Wisconsin, with a large extended family of cooks. Cooking was a competition. At family reunions everyone would bring their best food. There wouldn't be just one or two salads to choose from, there would be fifteen. Twenty different kinds of bar cookies. Giant vats of cheesy potato casserole and pulled pork. Food was how they showed love.
One of my husband's favorite desserts made by his mother was Apple Bars. Basically, apple pie cooked on a cookie sheet. These bars are perfect for breakfast with a cup of coffee or milk. They are wonderful as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Most heavenly right out of the oven. They never last long in our house.
Here is how you make them!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Measure flour, shortening, salt and sugar into a large bowl. Combine ingredients using a pastry blender.
Separate yokes from egg whites. Add just the yokes to the combined crust mixture.
Add milk and stir until dough forms a ball and flour is entirely incorporated.
Grease a 9 x 13 cookie sheet
Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the side. Set aside the remaining dough.
Peel, core, and chop 7 ½ cups of apples (about 7 medium apples) and place into a medium size bowl.
Cut butter until small cubes. Add small butter cubes to the apples and stir.
Add flour, sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice to the apples and stir.
Pour apple mixture on top of the dough. Spread
the apples out evenly.
Roll out the remaining dough to
create a top crust. To make the rolled dough easier to maneuver, I rolled ½ the
remaining dough out and then placed it over the apples. Then I rolled the other
½ of the dough and then placed it over the uncovered apples.
1 Place the bars in the oven and cook
at 400 degrees for 30 minutes
While the bars are baking, combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to create a thin glaze. You want the consistency to be very thin.
1 When the bars are finished, take
them out of the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes.
Drizzle the glaze over the bars. Allow to cool
for 5 minutes longer. Bars are served
best warm
Apple Pie Bars
Yields
1 pan of bars
Crust:
4 ½ Cups Flour
1 ½ cups
vegetable shortening
2 ¼ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 small egg
yokes
1 cup + 2
tablespoons of milk
Filling:
7 ½ cups apples
¼ cup flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 Tbsp. butter (cut into
small pieces)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin
pie spice
Glaze:
1 cup powdered
sugar
Splash of Milk
½ teaspoon
vanilla
1.
Preheat
oven to 400 degrees.
2.
Measure flour, shortening, salt and sugar into
a large bowl. Combine ingredients using a pastry blender.
3.
Separate
yokes from egg whites. Add just the yokes to the combined crust mixture. Add
milk and stir until dough forms a ball and flour is entirely incorporated.
4.
Grease a 9 x 13 cookie sheet and
press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the side. Set aside
the remaining dough.
5.
Peel, core, and chop 7 ½ cups of
apples (about 7 medium apples) and place into a medium size bowl.
6.
Add flour, sugar, cinnamon and
pumpkin pie spice to the apples and stir.
7.
Cut butter until small cubes. Add
small butter cubes to the apple mixture and stir.
8.
Pour apple mixture on top of the dough.
Spread the apples out evenly.
9.
Roll out the remaining dough to
create a top crust. To make the rolled dough easier to maneuver, I rolled ½ the
remaining dough out and then placed it over the apples. Then I rolled the other
½ of the dough and then placed it over the uncovered apples.
10.
Place the bars in the oven and cook
at 400 degrees for 30 minutes
11.
While the bars are baking combine
powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to create a thin glaze. You want the consistency
to be very thin.
12.
When the bars are finished, take
them out of the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes.
13.
Drizzle the glaze over the bars.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes longer. Bars
are served best warm.
