Apple Spice Cookie Bars

Katie from Good Things Catered (http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/) posted this recipe on her blog a few weeks ago. I like baking with apples in the fall and this looked like a winner. I have a bunch of food blogs bookmarked (so many that Firefox warns me that it may slow down my system when I open them all up!) and there are so many people out there making some great stuff. This is the first recipe that I have made after seeing it on someone’s blog.

I have a couple of apple recipes that I make in the fall. The one I had originally planned to make for this Friday was just a little too involved to tackle after a long day at work. I knew I had all the ingredients to make these bars, so I opted to make these instead.

These all have the right fall spices (I especially love the smell of freshly grated nutmeg) and smelled great when baking. I wanted to cut them right away, but I took the advice to let them cool first. I’m sure they would have fallen to pieces had I tried to cut them. I put them in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process, but ended up letting them cool overnight. The cookies are quite soft and it was a little tricky removing the bars from the foil that had lined the baking pan.

These are really great. They remind me of an apple cake that my paternal grandmother used to make. That cake had nuts in it, but these cookies have a similar flavor and texture. They came together easily and they’re a great fall recipe.

2 c. plus 2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
small pinch ground cloves
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 apples, cored and diced (a little less than 2 c.)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9x13 pan with foil and baking spray.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.
Whisk to combine well and set aside.

In a mixer bowl, combine sugars and butter and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine.
Turn mixer on slow and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Fold in apples.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle top generously with cinnamon sugar. Bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from cutting.