applesauce spice bars

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My sister’s kids are very early risers. There are times when they get up so early that their parents have to creep into their room and tell them “It’s still night! Go back to sleep!”

I feel that way in August with food bloggers: It’s still summer! Put away the pumpkin!

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In revolt against making a dessert in August that Dorie recommends serving with mulled cider, I tried my darndest to screw it up. Most of my problems came down to dividing ½ cup by 8, because I made one-eighth of the recipe (again, in revolt). Guess what? It isn’t two tablespoons. It’s one tablespoon. So I added twice as many nuts and raisins, plus twice as much applesauce, which I then tried to scoop out before I mixed it in all the way. I’m a genius. Oh, I also heated the butter and sugar too much before adding the eggs, so the first bit of egg that I added to the mixture cooked immediately, and I had to pick out bits of cooked egg.

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Despite my reluctance to make what’s clearly a fall treat in the middle of August and then my efforts to make it all wrong, the applesauce bars were pretty good. Really soft and tender, not too sweet, with a bit of tartness from (twice the amount of) the raisins. Dave said they made him want turkey and crackling leaves and hikes through crisp fall air. Maybe in a couple months.

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Karen chose this for Tuesdays with Dorie, and she has the recipe posted.

One year ago: Country Egg Scramble

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Comments

  1. How in the world did you manage to make applesauce bars look soooo incredible!

  2. They do look lovely =)

    I have a biscuit recipe that I regularly make 1/6 of a batch (2 biscuits). I also regularly add too much salt. You would think I would remember that by now…

  3. I’m totally with you on the pumpkin, but apples can be used year-round, although this particular treat was more fall-like. Usually I think of apple pie as being the only apple dessert to bake in the summer. I also prefer to bake seasonally and take advantage of the fresh fruit like peaches and blueberries.

  4. These look awesome! It’s like Fall in a tart:)

  5. I’m patiently waiting for fall, the heat and humidity is frying my brain. I will try this when the weather is more to my liking! It looks wonderful!

  6. Lol, its amazing that after all you tried to screw this up, it still turned out so good!! It certainly doesn’t look like you had any problems!!

  7. I am glad it turned out even with trying to mess it up. 😉

  8. I started this recipe with you, incredulous of a fall recipe in the midst of summer, but by the end I was with Dave! Move over summer and bring on the cider!

  9. It looks great…I just want to lick the top of it! : )

  10. LOVE those little round tart/bars. They look great.

  11. You rebel you – that’s what happens when you buck the status quo, don’t you realize? I mean, it’s absolutely an adorable miniature version, but all those hurdles beforehand – yikes!

  12. These bars definitely reminded me of fall and made me eager for it to arrive. Yours look great in their mini form 🙂

  13. Wow, well for trying to screw this up you still created a beautiful little treat! Revolt or not, it looks great.

  14. Jules says:

    Those look just amazing! So much for messing up. 😉

  15. I’ll eat pumpkin anytime of year so this would pass in my book too 🙂

  16. These look great, Bridget. I’ve got them marked for my October file 🙂

  17. I love how you prepared this and that topping is perfect!