Apple Streusel Bars

It's apple picking time. We haven't had a chance to go to the orchards to pick apples but I stopped at our local orchard's store and picked up a couple huge jonagold apples. This recipe calls for almond extract in the glaze and of course I didn't have any! I substitued it with vanilla extract, but I'm sure the almond extract would be much better. I guess I'll be ordering that with my next Watkins order!

Pastry:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened (no substitutions)
1 egg, beaten

Apple filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp cinnamon

4 cups sliced, peeled baking apples

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

about 3 Tbsp milk (I used 4 Tbsp of 2% milk)

1 tsp almond extract

To prepare crust, mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until you have pea-sized crumbles. Gently mix in beaten egg.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Gently pat 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set dish aside.

To prepare the apple filling, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples and spread apples out on the prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evently and bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. When finished, allow to cool completely.

To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, extract and enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Place glaze in a ziploc bag and cut off a very small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over the cooled pastry and allow to harden. Cut into bars and serve.

Recipe from Our Best Bites