Apple Squares

I'm not going to lie- I used to go out of my way to buy ingredients for recipes I wanted to try. But these days, I find recipes based on anything in my pantry that is about to turn bad. Last night, it was brought to my attention that there were 4 apples slowly rotting away in the cold dark drawer in the bottom of the fridge. Now it was a hot humid day, I didn't have enough butter to make apple pie, didn't have cream cheese to make fruit tarts, didn't have frozen puff pastry to make galettes, and there was no way I would have gone to the grocery store. So I dug around, and around, and around, on the internet, and after an hour, I stumbled upon this apple square recipe.


It was a very simple and straight forward recipe. The dough resembled a sticky gooey brownie dough, which worried me when I stuck it in the oven. But 25 mins later, it came out all soft and warm and delicious. To make it even better, I topped it off with a scoop of ice cream. This recipe made 9 1-inch squares. In less than 12 hours, I only had 3 left!

Apple squares (adapted from allrecipes.com with slight modifications*)

*I like my dessert less sweet than most people, so I always take out about 1/4 cup of sugar from the original recipe*

Makes 9 squares on a 8x8 pan

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chopped apple
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x9 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon; set aside.
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• 2. In a separate bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of white sugar until smooth. Stir in egg and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. 
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• 3. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the squares.
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• 4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven. You will know it's done when the top is crispy. Don't bother sticking a toothpick or knife into the squares, it will come out wet/ sticky. Let cool in the pan, and cut into desired size.