Love apple pie, but don’t want to fuss with making pie pastry? This square has a soft brown sugar blondie base and is topped with cinnamon-y apples and an oat crumble on top.
Makes one 8-inch (20 cm) square pan; cuts into 25-36 bite-size squares, or 16 dessert-sized squares.
ingredients
Apples
Base and Topping
directions
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Lightly grease and line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with parchment paper so that the paper comes up the sides.
Stir the apples, butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice together in a sauté pan over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble. Let the apples simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender. Remove the pan from the heat and let this cool to room temperature.
For the base, cream the butter and brown sugar together by hand until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each additional and then stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour, cinnamon and salt until evenly combined. Measure out about 1 cup (250 mL) of this batter and spoon the rest into the prepared pan, using floured fingers to press in the batter. Spread the cooled apples overtop. Stir the oats into the reserved base batter and crumble this on top of the apples. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the crumble top is golden brown. Cool the pan on a rack before slicing, or chill to cut more precise squares. The squares can be served warm or at room temperature.
For a plated dessert, serve a warm square with a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a slice of Cheddar cheese.