If you’ve ever been to San Diego, you’ll probably agree that it’s a little bit of a dreamy place… warm-ish weather all year long, palm trees gently swaying on the horizon, year-round Farmer’s Markets and herb gardens, lots of great beaches, and jaw-dropping sunsets. The down-side to living in such a beautiful place is that we don’t really have much of a change in the seasons. The weather does cool down come October but not really more than about 10 or 20 degrees, and the leaves begin to fall off the trees but they don’t really turn the autumnal colors that you see in other areas of the country. Luckily, we can drive just an hour to the local mountains of Julian to experience the change of seasons and pick apples along the way.
We look forward to our family’s annual apple-picking trip. My son marches around the orchard picking everything he can reach, and we come away with several pounds of apples that are fit for baking up a storm. A stop at the Pumpkin Farm on the way home adds to the fun. Ride home discussion revolves around what Mom is going to make with all of those apples. My first apple baking project of the season was these Apple Pie Bars.
How to make Apple Pie Bars:
A spiced-up shortbread crust is pressed into the bottom of a 12×17-inch rimmed pan (a half sheet pan) & baked until golden.
6 pounds of apples are sautéed in butter, sugar and spices until lightly caramelized, then spooned onto the baked crust. That might sound like an awful lot of apples, but this recipe makes a lot of bars!
An oat topping is pressed on top.
The whole thing is baked until browned, and cut into bars when cool.
Hope you’re hungry, cause this recipe makes a whopping four dozen bars! And these Apple Pie Bars truly taste just like apple pie. Eating these helps bring a bit of fall to an (otherwise) dreamy place to live. If you’re looking for more fall dessert recipes, you might also enjoy my Maple Apple Tartlets. Soft Maple Sugar Cookies, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares and Apple Cider Cupcakes are also good fall sweet treats!
