Dutch Apple Pie Bars
photo by j3white

- Ready In:
- 2hrs 2mins
- Ingredients:
- 20
- Yields:
-
24 bars
ingredients
-
Crust
- 1 1⁄2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons ice water
-
Filling
- 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 - 3⁄4 cup sugar (depends on tartness of apples and personal preference)
- nutmeg (a pinch)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 5 -6 cups peeled cored diced apples (Granny Smith)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
-
Topping
- 1 1⁄2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3⁄4 cup sugar
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 teaspoon almond extract
directions
- Preheat oven to 425°; lightly grease a 13x9 inch pan.
- Crust: in a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; using a pastry blender, cut in the butter.
- Drizzle the beaten egg over the mixture; toss lightly to combine.
- Add the ice water 1 tablespoons at a time, stirring gently until the dough starts to clump together; grab a fistful; if it sticks together easily, you have added enough water.
- Roll the dough into a generous rectangle to fit your pan.
- Place the dough in the pan; prick it all over with a fork; bake it for 10-12 minutes, until it is set and barely starting to harden.
- Filling: in a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, spices, and salt together; add in the apples, tossing to coat.
- Stir in the vanilla, then the cream; spread the filling over the crust.
- Topping: in a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, combine the melted butter and extracts; pout over the flour mixture.
- Stir until the butter is absorbed and the mixture forms fairly even crumbs; sprinkle over the filling.
- Bake for 15 minutes; decrease temperature to 350°; bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the topping is brown and the filling is bubbly.
- Remove from oven and cool on a rack; let them cool to lukewarm before cutting.
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Reviews
-
SO delicious. I'm only rating 4 stars because I didn't care for the crust. The filling and topping were scrumptious - made pretty much as written, except I substituted brown sugar for the white in the filling and omitted the almond extract. Oh, and a little extra nutmeg, since I love it. I used Northern Spy apples, which are my favourite for pies. I will definitely make these again, but with my own pie crust recipe. Thanks for posting such a wonderful recipe!
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Wow. I cannot believe this has not been reviewed! ... and I'm so glad I tried it anyway! This was so delicious!! I made it just as written with only a few tweeks. I hate rolling out pie crust (thus the search for a bar recipe!) so I just patted the crust into my 9x13. (Turned out perfect!) I had lots of apples to use up, left over from Thanksgiving, so I used about 8 cups of a combination of winesap and jonagold. I used brown sugar instead of white in the topping. That's it. Baked as directed. We served it warm with icecream, and i drizzled some warm carmel sauce over all just to make it extra wonderful. Everyone raved!! Thanks for a fabulous recipe that will be made often!!
Tweaks
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SO delicious. I'm only rating 4 stars because I didn't care for the crust. The filling and topping were scrumptious - made pretty much as written, except I substituted brown sugar for the white in the filling and omitted the almond extract. Oh, and a little extra nutmeg, since I love it. I used Northern Spy apples, which are my favourite for pies. I will definitely make these again, but with my own pie crust recipe. Thanks for posting such a wonderful recipe!
-
Wow. I cannot believe this has not been reviewed! ... and I'm so glad I tried it anyway! This was so delicious!! I made it just as written with only a few tweeks. I hate rolling out pie crust (thus the search for a bar recipe!) so I just patted the crust into my 9x13. (Turned out perfect!) I had lots of apples to use up, left over from Thanksgiving, so I used about 8 cups of a combination of winesap and jonagold. I used brown sugar instead of white in the topping. That's it. Baked as directed. We served it warm with icecream, and i drizzled some warm carmel sauce over all just to make it extra wonderful. Everyone raved!! Thanks for a fabulous recipe that will be made often!!