We bring you yet another delectable gluten free dessert option. Or a snack (or meal)—no judgments here. It’s another Allons-Eat! original, to boot. This recipe epitomizes everything great and grand about fall baking–apples, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar….it’s almost too much to bear. Almost, but totally worth it. Also, it calls for a borderline obscene amount of sliced apples, languishing in just enough batter to hold them together, so there isn’t that disappointing “Oh look, a molecule of apple” phenomenon here. Not on our watch.
You can whip up a batch of these bars to keep the natives at bay while you tend to more important matters. Like which wine goes best with holiday stress. I vote for a nice New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, btw.
A few simple ingredients are all you need to fill your home with an aroma that will make you weak in the knees. Just a heads up, though, passers-by might knock on your door and offer to buy the place. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Topped with a rich, buttery, cinnamon-spiced crumb, these sweet/tart, moist/crunchy bars are a perfect symphony of delicious contradictions.
You can make them to take along to holiday parties, and they don’t contain any nuts or gluten, so you can also send them along to school with the kids as a classroom snack and not worry about the nurse’s office being plunged into DEFCON 1. The holidays are about sharing, after all. Seriously…don’t bogart the apple crumble bars.
- 2 ⅓ cups (292 g.)all-purpose flour ) OR 292 g. All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend plus 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups (248 g.) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g.)packed brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (about 4 cups total)
- Crumble:
- ½ cup (63 g.) All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend
- ½ cup (106 g.) brown sugar
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. salt
- ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened
- Heat oven to 350° F. Line bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray or butter. In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum (if using gluten-free flour); set aside.
- In large bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on high speed until creamy. Beat in sugars. Gradually beat in eggs and vanilla into sugar mixture until combined. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients until combined. With a spatula, fold the apples into the batter until evenly distributed.
- To prepare the crumble, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in remaining ¼ cup butter.
- Spoon the batter into pan; spread evenly. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over batter.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour, before cutting into squares.
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