Apple Pie Bars

Today marks two occasions: Pi Day [3/14 or 3.14] and the beginning of St. Patrick's Day week. I wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's day by making a goody each day of the week. But I also did not want to skip over Pi day either. So, I made two treats today! They are both to die for. Because I have a packed plate this week, I am going to blog twice today. The first post will make Pi Day the tastiest day of the year. I did not want to make a boring pie, so instead I made Apple Pie Bars. Let me tell you, these little bars are amazing.

Yields: About 24 bars; Serving Size: 1 Bar

The dough is a bit rough to get into a square, but if you have some patience you should be able to get it to run the full length of a cookie sheet.

Here are the ingredients:
Dough -

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup shortening
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 10 tablespoons cold water

Filling -

• 7 cups finely chopped and peeled apples [about 8 Gala]
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze -

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder
• Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs
• In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks, lemon juice and water
• Gradually add to flour mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball
• Divide in half and chill for 30 to 45 minutes

In the meantime,

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
• Peel and then cut the apples in to small slivers, toss the apples with the sugar, flour and cinnamon

• Once the dough has chilled, roll out one portion of the dough between two large sheets of waxed paper [you don't have to do this, it may help though], roughly the size of 15 in x 10 in x 1 in baking sheet 

• Transfer the rectangular dough to the cookie sheet 
• Then spread the filling mixture over the dough
• With the remaining dough, roll out the same as before and place over filling

• Trim edges, if necessary, and brush edges with water then pinch to seal
• Cut slits in the top
• Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown
• Cool for 30 minutes then combine the glaze ingredients until smooth and drizzle over the bars before cutting

These bars are heavenly! The dough is so flaky and turned out wonderful and the apple mixture has enough sweetness to compliment the savory crust. It's  a perfect apple by in miniature bar form. While it took a while to get everything together, it was well worth the effort and I hope you all give it a try soon!

Until Next Year,

Happy Pi-Day!

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 267

Fat: 9 g

Sodium: 117 mg

Carbohydrate: 44 g

Fiber: 1 g