Blueberry and apple squares

While resting my poor eyes from the tedious job of editing my own recipes in the Tastebook that will be available starting Monday, October 20th (it’s a print on demand kind of thing so don’t feel confused that I am still editing at this point), I decided I’d do some baking and take a few hours off from my computer. I wanted to bake Elise’s green chile cornbread but I didn’t have corn. I surfed for a while and found Delish’s apple spice bars which she discovered at Good Things Catered. They looked interesting and the recipe seemed simple enough for an amateur baker like myself.

My version comes with blueberries and a lot less sugar which means I can eat more than one square after each meal today. It’s delicious with its soft chewy center and crusty exterior. My daughters preferred that it be sweeter (they do have a sweet tooth) so my end notes include the original amount of the ingredients as well as the topping that I omitted.

Makes 18 to 24 squares.

Ingredients :

2 c. plus 2 tbsp. of all purpose flour
1 tbsp. of baking soda
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 tsps. of ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. of nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. minus 1 tbsp. of loosely packed dark brown sugar
1 c. minus 1 tbsp. of white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. of vanilla extract
1 apple, cored and diced
2 handfuls of blueberries (about a cup and a half)

Preheat the oven to 350^oF.

Line the bottom and sides of a 9″x13″ baking dish with baking (non-stick) paper.

In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

In another bowl, with a wire whisk, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to blend.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix just until blended. The batter will be thick and lumpy. Add the apple pieces and blueberries and fold in. Do not overmix at this point because the blueberries will bleed and make the batter bluish all over.

Spread the batter on the lined pan, smoothing with a spatula. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes:

1. The original recipe calls for a full cup of white sugar and a full cup of packed (firmly packed, I assume) brown sugar.

2. I omitted the cinnamon sugar topping altogether. If you really want the full sweetness of the original recipe, you can make cinnamon sugar by mixing together 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon with 3 tbsps. of white sugar and sprinkle on top of the batter before it goes into the oven.

3. If using frozen blueberries (I did), thaw and drain well before using.