Well I am a day late. Things have been a little hectic around here, so I almost didn’t make these. Apples raw are lovely, in baked goods they are ok, but not really my favorite. However, pair that will some caramel topping and I am definitely game! So I did manage to make these yesterday, and they were actually quite easy. I stuck to the recipe for the most part, I only made a couple of adjustments. I used:
- Red Delicious instead of baking apples, didn’t have any
- regular rum instead of dark rum
- Cherry Craisins instead of raisins
- had to make my own applesauce, was out, 2 medium apples did the trick
These were marvelous. They must only be called bars because of their shape as this is definitely a moist cake. Fabulous!
In fact, While photographing these I ate three of them and finally turned them over to the family. My family, however, is not as brave and adventurous as I am. In fact, no one has tried them yet besides me :-/ My daughter and 2nd son won’t, they don’t like raisins or nuts in their goodies, my youngest son said he was saving his (LOL) and my husband ate a huge bowl of ice cream last night so he was full. As for my oldest son, he’s almost never here, and he’s pretty texture sensitive too, so he probably won’t try any.
Well after trying these and looking at the lovely glaze, I had a feeling these probably wouldn’t keep very long, so I packed up half the cake and took it over to my neighbor’s house who accepted them with open arms.
If you would like to try making these, click on over to Something Sweet by Karen, this week’s host for Tuesdays with Dorie, as she has the recipe posted there. Or, if you have the book Baking From My Home to Yours, turn to pages 116-118 to get the recipe.
The first step after preparing your 13×9 baking pan is to whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice.
Then you melt the butter over low heat.
When the butter has melted, whisk in the brown sugar until it’s nice and smooth (mmmmm).
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
Add the applesauce, vanilla and rum (which is optional by the way).
Switch to a rubber spatula and stir in the dry ingredients.
Then mix in the chopped apple, raisins and nuts.
Pour it into the pan and bake.
Bake it about 25 minutes, or until the sides just start to pull away from the pan.
While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Whisk together the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup. Bring to boil then simmer. You add the vanilla after removing it from the heat.
Pour it over the bars and spread with an icing spatula. let cool completely before you cut it into bars. YUM!
Applesauce Spice Bars
IMPORTANT - There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
For the Bars
- 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon applejack brandy or dark rum (optional)
- 1 baking apple such as Rome or Cortland, peeled, cored and finely diced or chopped
- ½ cup plump moist raisins (dark or golden)
- ½ cup chopped pecans
For the Glaze
- 2-1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
- â…“ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
GETTING READY:
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-x-13 inch baking pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper and dust the inside of the pan with flour. Tap out the excess flour and put the pan on a baking sheet.
THE BARS:
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Still working in the saucepan, whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing until they are well blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and applejack, if you’re using it, and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is once again smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear, then mix in the apple, raisins and nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
- Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the cake just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and let the cake cool while you make the glaze.
THE GLAZE:
- In a small saucepan, whisk together the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup. Put the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to the boil, whisking frequently. Adjust the heat so that the glaze simmers, and cook, whisking frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
- Turn the bars out onto a rack, remove the paper and invert the bars onto another rack, so they are right side up. Slide the parchment paper under the rack to serve as a drip catcher, grab a long metal icing spatula and pour the hot glaze over the bars, using the spatula to spread it evenly over the cake. Let cool to room temperature before cutting.
- Cut into 32 rectangles, each about 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.
Storing:
- In a covered container, the bars will keep for about 3 days at room temperature. Because of the glaze, they cannot be frozen.
Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Follow on Pinterest @AmandasCookin or tag #AmandasCookin!
Amanda Davis
President at Amanda's Creative Studio, Inc.
Amanda Davis is the entrepreneurial mom of four grown children and four step children. She and her husband, Chef Antoine, love to cook together creating recipes for this blog. Amanda also make kid's crafts and creates decorative items for her home. She is a crafting expert and guru in the kitchen and has appeared online and in print publications many times over the years. She is also a craft book author five times over and product developer as well as the owner of FunFamilyCrafts.com. You can find her on social media by using the buttons to the left!
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The Blonde Duck says
I'll accept the other half with open arms!
isa says
They look gorgeous and so moist!
Brilliant idea to use Cherry Craisins.
Great job!
Spike says
They look great- love the crasins. lucky neighbors who got these!
Marie says
Amanda, your bars look fabulously delicious!!! Well done!
Leslie says
Amanda, yours look perfect! I would eat that caramel glaze on anything, truly. I like how shiny your glaze turned out. Beautiful!
Barbara Bakes says
These look great! So nice of your to share!
MaryBeth says
This looks very good, I love all of little items that went into the making of this bar.
Chow and Chatter says
wow these are divine
Alisa - Frugal Foodie says
Oh My goodness, those look so goood! Definitely worth the wait.
biz319 says
Um, I'll take some! Definitely insulin worthy to me!
Charli says
Your husband should have his with the ice cream! That is an amazing pairing!
Your glaze looks perfect!
Ingrid says
They look and sounds really good but like you and your family am not crazy about warm mushy fruit. I definitely don't like raisins and am not sure about craisins.
~ingrid
margot says
The look fantastic, glad you had a chance to make them! You were smart to share them with the neighbors, these are easy to eat a lot of.
Erin Orr says
They look great! I can't believe your family wouldn't eat them. My husband has been eating 2 or three a night!
SUGAR B says
Amanda! I am so glad you made these because they certainly look DIVINE!
Like HOLY DIVINE!
Your pictures sold me! Very informative, detailed, and just gorgeous.
You are a baking star!
natalia says
oh Amanda I wish I could have a square right now !
myfamousrecipe says
The dried cherries sound like a lovely addition to this cake. Pretty pictures, too.
Pam says
Those look really good and moist!
steph- whisk/spoon says
they look fantastic! hopefully your family has tried them now–they don't know what they're missing!
Kayte says
Great photos, I love them all, but I think my favorite is the last one where they are sitting on the deck in all their summer glory just screaming picnic potluck and good times! Yep, just screaming…gorgeous!