All these apples we still need to use up! While I waited for my hubby to come home tonight, I decided to bake him something nice and his favorite is anything with a streusel like topping. I like this recipe because of the way the filling is made. It reminded me of making my own apple pie filling, without spending $3.50 at the grocery store for a high calorie canned version.

What we liked about these bars was the crunchy crust that melts in your mouth and the apple filling that is soft, smooth, and full of flavor. Although, we both agreed there should be more apples in the filling. Next time I will prepare 3 medium apples to spread in the middle. Yes, there will be a next time, and experiments with other fruit fillings to come. By the way, while the apple-cinnamon filling is simmering, and the bars are in the oven….who needs a candle?!

Ingredients:

Crumb Mixture

• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
• 1/2 cup butter

Apple-Cinnamon Filling

• 2-3 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (more is better)
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Start by making the apple-cinnamon filling. Peel, core and slice 2-3 medium apples. In a medium saucepan combine apples, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Bring apple mixture to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 8-10 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove from heat.

2. While apples are simmering, in a medium mixing bowl combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingers, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture.

3. Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of an un-greased 8×8 inch baking pan. Spread with apple-cinnamon filling. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake in 350º oven for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. (Mine was perfect at 32 minutes.) Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Devour plain jane style, or with whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream, or…

I have never cooked with dates, but I thought, ‘Tis the season! I’m a big softy for old fashioned bakery treats. These bars are loaded with old fashioned oats, and a moist and sweet dried fruit filling. Are you thinking fig newton? Yes, but these bars are 10x more scrumptious and satisfying!

I’ll be making these again, but next time I’m adding the only thing that can make anything better…chocolate

Ingredients:

Date Filling:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pitted dates
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust/Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8×8-inch metal baking pan, or line pan with aluminum foil for easy cutting and serving.

Bring 1 1/2 cups water to simmer in medium saucepan. Add dates; simmer until very soft and thick, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla.

Combine flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl; stir to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until moist clumps form. Press half of oat mixture evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Spread date mixture over. Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture; press gently to adhere. Bake until brown at edges and golden brown and set in center, about 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cut into bars and serve.

Tip: 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts, can be added to the oat bar mixture if desired.

This recipe was adapted from Epicurious.

Who doesn’t love a good blondie? A blond brownie is what I’m talking about! This sensational recipe satisfied two of my cravings at once… for chewy blondies, and for chewy ginger cookies (recipe also on my blog). They practically melt in your mouth, and are bursting with the down to earth ginger and spice flavors. Add white chocolate chips or chunks to the mix, and we’ve got a very original twist on a classic blondie.

My fiance’s best friend from back home in Green Bay, and best man for our upcoming wedding, Mike, has been living with us for the past couple of weeks. While he gets on his feet here in St. Louis, he’s been a great tester of my treats and a great foodie companion all together. Mike, a self-proclaimed blondie snob, made a good point in mentioning that the ginger flavor here is not over-bearing and he enjoyed the addition of the white chocolate chunks which add the perfect degree of texture…and sweetness!

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
• 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 ¾ cups white chocolate chips/or chunks (Baker’s brand)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 13×9 baking dish by lining with aluminum foil and spraying with cooking spray. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, soda, salt, and spices in a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until creamy and pale, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla and molasses and mix on medium speed until combined.

Add flour mixture on low speed until combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and bake until golden around edges and toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan; remove from pan with foil, and cut into bars. Blondies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Adapted slightly from My Kitchen Cafe

These delicious bars have been covered by a few different blogs I’ve come across. They are raved about on every review, which made me curious about them because they seem so simple, one could easily pass quickly over them. They are simple, but they’re packed with a punch of flavor from the all time classic combination of oatmeal and chocolate.

*Warning: HIGHLY addictive. I couldn’t be happier I tried these bars. I’ve found my go-to bar recipe when I need a quick and crowd pleasing treat!

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chunks
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Beat butter, sugars, egg and vanilla till fluffy and add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts. Press into a greased 9×13 inch pan and bake for 18-20 minutes until light golden brown.

Tips:
-Do not over bake, but perhaps under-bake by one minute.
-Think outside the square! Try cutting your bars in different shapes for a prettier presentation. To cut triangles, cut bars into 2 inch squares, then cut each square in half diagonally.
-This recipe can also be doubled and pressed into a large sheet pan (11X17) with great results.

~Adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

Having a last minute get together with friends is exciting, not to mention it gives me an excuse to bake! Bars are always a great option when you need something quick, and scrumptious. I’ve had a jar of high quality raspberry preserves that I’ve been waiting to bake with, and you can’t go wrong matching raspberry with chocolate. These bars were crowd pleaser among my friends, Andy and Linda, and my fiance Jordan.

I probably undercooked them a tad but as I gave Andy a few to hit the road with he mentioned he was going to put them in the microwave to get the same affect! Andy also said the main reason he enjoyed these, despite their gooey goodness, was because the raspberry isn’t overpowering as the fruit usually is in most fruit bars. Rather the raspberry and the semisweet chocolate here are very complimentary of each other.

Now Jordan is an odd one…first because he isn’t a major fan of chocolate, and also because he likes his baked goods over-cooked and often times crunchy. At first bite he was quick to point out how rich the bars are, and that was about all he had to say. As the bars sat to cool another 45 minutes, he couldn’t resist another bite, and by this time he was raving about them! He told me that if these bars were in grocery stores or bakeries, they would be popular and a sure sale.

Linda’s actions, or should I say noises, may have been the best compliment of all. “Mmmmmm.” (bite) “Mmmmmm. These are so goooood.” (bite; repeat) She ate it very slowly so she could enjoy for as long as she could…which was possibly 2 minutes?

**Next day: After storing half of the bars in the refrigerator, the added chill made them firmer and even more excellent!

I adopted this recipes from Nestle’s Very Best Baking website. Give these bars a go if you love a brown sugar crust layered with a sweet and rich filling and mantled with walnuts and more crust. Any takers?

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (12-ounce package)Semi Sweet Chocolate morsals
• 1 can (14 ounces) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves or jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Beat butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 1 3/4 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Microwave 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread over hot crust.

Stir nuts into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.