No Nut Apple Pie Bars

Last week Alex's kindergarten class studied apples, so her teacher asked me if I could bake an apple treat for them. Because of the prevalence of nut allergies in kids (and indeed Alex does have one child with nut allergies in her class) I skipped past the apple bars I have made in the past and kept looking until I landed on the Recipe Girl's Apple Pie Bars with an oat topping.


What a success! The kindergarten class made me a ginourmous sign thanking me for the "brownies" (I think Alex must have forgotten what to call them, haha), and each of them signed it. Do you know how absolutely adorable it is to get a sign that has been "autographed" by 24 5 year olds? Mind you, some of them were picky and did not eat the bars, but as Alex and her teacher both more or less said, those are the crazy (Alex's words, not the teacher's) kids who are picky about everything. Because these bars rock.


No Nut Apple Pie Bars
Closely adapted from Recipe Girl

Crust:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
3 cups AP flour
1/2 t Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 t kosher salt

Filling:
6 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
12 tart, preferably firm apples (about 6 lbs)—peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 T Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 cup water, as necessary

Topping:
3 cups rolled oats (Recipe Girl says quick cooking but I used old fashioned--results might be crumblier but still worked)
2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 1/4 t Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (chilled)

First prepare the crust. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a 15-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet or jelly roll pan with parchment paper (my pan was slightly smaller but it still worked ok). I got the parchment to lay better by lightly spraying the pan with nonstick spray first.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. At low speed, beat in the flour, cinnamon and salt until a soft dough forms. Press the dough over the bottom of the prepared pan and 1/2 inch up the side in an even layer. Bake in the center of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden and set. Let cool on a rack.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In large, deep (I used nonstick) skillet, melt the butter with the brown sugar. Add the apples to the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in cinnamon. Cook until the apples are caramelized and very tender and the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes longer; Recipe Girl says you may need to add water to prevent scorching, but if you use a nonstick pan it will not be necessary. Set the mixture aside to cool.

While the crust and the filling are cooling, prepare the topping. In a large bowl, mix the oats with the flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Using your fingers rub the butter into the oat mixture and crumble together until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Press the mixture into clumps.

Spread the apple filling over the crust. Scatter the crumbs on top, pressing them lightly into an even layer. Bake in the center of the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the topping is golden; rotate the pan halfway through baking, and keep an eye on it to make sure the top isn’t getting too browned. Let cool completely on a rack before cutting into bars.