For The Love of Apples

This Apple Dessert Recipe Literally Taste Like Fall

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I've been making a lot of different apple recipes this fall and I think this one might be my favorite. The best part about baking with apples is that you can customize your flavor with the type of apples that you use. I like to cook with a type of apple that is on the tart side like a Granny Smith or a Courtland. Although if I am making my favorite apple pie (recipe coming in November!) I prefer to use a Honey Crisp. My favorite place to buy apples is at my local market, Brown's Orchard since they grow their own apples. Make sure to check your local markets for apples or you can pick them up at the grocery store. Or the best option is going apple picking for really fresh apples! I got this recipe from EatingWell Magazine where I get a lot of my favorite recipes. I changed this recipe a little bit to fit my preferences but, that's the best part about baking! You can change and add to any recipe to fit your taste! I will include the original recipe as well as my personal modifications.

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Fresh Apple Squares

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups all- purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I personally added a little more)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

(I added ginger and cloves to give a more apple pie taste. I used 1/4 ground ginger and 1/8 ground cloves)

3 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup apple juice concentrate, thawed (you will find this in the frozen juice section at the grocery store)

2 medium tart apples, Granny Smith, peeled and thinly sliced (I used 5-6 apples and I used a mix of thick and thin slices)

1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (my family is not big on nuts so I opted out on the nuts and used more oats instead)

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Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 9-inch-square baking pan with cooking spray or butter. I used the same pan I bake brownies in and it worked perfectly.

2) Combine your flour, oats, brown sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and if you want to include ginger and cloves. Add in oil and apple juice concentrate with your fingers until coarse crumbs form.

3) Firmly press 2 cups of the oat mixture into the pan. Arrange apples over the crust in three rows. Mix walnuts (if using nuts) into the remaining oat mixture. Sprinkle the nut mixture evenly over the apples and pat firmly into an even layer. Since I didn't use nuts I took a handful of oats and sprinkled them on top of the apples and oat mixture. If you prefer to have a ticker crust you can use all of the oat mixture on the bottom and just sprinkle nuts or more oats on top of the apples.

4) Bake in the oven until the top is golden brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife, 30 to 35 minutes. I always start the timer at the shorter time frame and go from there. I find my oven runs on the hotter side and sometimes doesn't need the full time. Let the squares cool all the way through on a wire rack. I served mine with a side of vanilla ice cream.

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I loved this recipe and it left my house smelling like fall afterwards. This recipe was a big hit at my house and I'm sure it will be at your house too! This will be great to have to munch on while craving pumpkins, server as a dessert at the Halloween party, or for Thanksgiving next month! What I love about this recipe is that it only calls for brown sugar and since it calls for a tart apple the recipe isn't overly sweet! I try to not use a lot of sugar in my baked goods and I tend to use less sugar than what recipes call for. If you want to add a little more sweetness you can use a little more sugar, use a sweet apple like a Honey Crisp, or add a little maple syrup or honey. Comment below if you're excited to give this a try or what your favorite fall apple recipe is to bake every year. Head over to EatingWell of more great recipes to try out!