Apple Streusel Bars

Cormac loves things with apples. If it were just myself-- I'd live on chocolate chip cookies and blondies but, hey, its good to have someone to push the variety. I saw this recipe pop up on a blog I enjoy reading a while back and filed it to memory for the next time "I dunno, something with apples would be nice *slurping of saliva noise Homer-style*" was requested for dessert.
These are tasty-- at first, they came out lacking in bar-form until I realized we are impatient piggies who didn't wait long enough for the bars to cool down. If you do, they cut out perfectly. I used a 9x9 but next time I will use a 9x13 so the spread will be thinner. Also, the glaze isn't necessary (although it looks pretty)-- even with less-than-sweet apples this can manage just fine without the added sweetness of the glaze. Cup of tea?

Apple Streusel Bars
adapted from Lovin' From the Oven

Ingredients
STREUSEL CRUST:
2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg, beaten

FILLING:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp vanilla
4 cups (about 3 medium) baking apples, sliced thinly.

GLAZE:
1 cup icing sugar
1-2 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat your oven to 180C /350F.

To prepare pastry crust, dice cold butter into small cubes. Add to mixer and beat together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder under you have pea sized bits. Slowly add in beaten egg. If you have a large food processor that would work well, too.

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. Preheat oven to 350 and set aside.
Apple filling: combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on prepared crust. I kind of stacked them like I'm making a fancy tartin.

Sprinkle reserved streusel mixture over apples evenly, sprinkle with cinnamon if you want (I loves me some cinnamon!)

Bake 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool completely (I was too impatient and dug straight in, which means its less bar-like and more gooey delicious.

Glaze: whisk icing sugar, vanilla, and roughly 2 tbsp milk. You might need more milk to get it to the desired thinness. Drizzle glaze over cooled bars-- I used a fork and that worked perfectly. Allow to harden. If you can!

Apple Cake for a Birthday?

It's my partner Cormac's birthday. He's turning 21, again, of course ;). He requested an "apple pie or cake thingy whatever". So, I figured as long as I used up the apples in the kitchen I'd be fine.

Apple Cake with Oatmeal Crumble
adapted from The Knead for Bread Apple Tart Bread

Ingredients

Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup apple sauce (or any extra large apple or 2 small ones, I just happen to have some applesauce already in the fridge to use up).
3 large or large apples or 4 smaller ones sliced or cubed

Oatmeal crumble
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup oats
3 tbsp sugar (I like brown sugar, but white is fine)
1/4 tsp cinnamon (or more if you like it, I'd have 1 tsp for myself but Cormac isn't a cinnamon fan)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C

Grease a 9" or 10" round pan... I used a springform pan to make my life easier and lined it with baking paper. You could probably use a ~10" square pan.

Peel and slice your apples (if you really care, you can soak them in cold water with a few squirts of lemon juice to prevent browning but it really doesn't matter since you're just tossing them in the cake in the end).

Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.

Melt butter and leave it to cool.

In a another bowl or your mixer the eggs and sugar. Mix on high until its nearly syrupy and a bit pale colored. ~3 minutes.

Add the cool melted butter and the vanilla to the egg/sugar mix.

Add the applesauce and mix (if you have it).

Add the sliced apple pieces, mix gently until they are coated.

Add in the flour mix and mix until its well combined.

Start your crumble topping in a separate bowl. Use room temperature butter, and toss the oats, butter, sugar and cinnamon together. Squeeze it together until it forms pebbles of crumble topping.

Pour into your greased pan, sprinkle on the crumble topping, stick it in your oven for 50 minutes.