Apple pie bars

There was a pot luck at church this past Sunday. I thought this was the perfect occasion to test out The Runaway Spoon's Apple pie bars. Except, I made baked ziti for Mrblocko to take to a different church pot luck on Friday. Apparently, they had so much food that hardly any of it was consumed. Those that had the ziti thought it was so great they asked if they could bring it to the potluck at church on Sunday. Mrblocko said, "Yeah, that sounds great. Why don't I just leave it here so we don't have to lug it back and forth." Poor guy. He thought he was being helpful. What he didn't realize was that I needed that 9x13 pan to make the bars. Doh.

Normally, this wouldn't have been such a big deal, except while he was gone I measured out all the ingredients for the bars. Doh. You can't unmix baking powder and cinnamon from flour. I hemmed and hawed over what to do. I finally settled on using my 10x13 pan. I worried that the bars might be too thin baking them in a larger pan. Now my 10x13 pan is almost 3 inches high. Compare that to the height of my 9x13 pan, which is 2 inches. Take a look at the photo below. The bars rose about a half inch from the top of the larger pan. I think the whole thing would have overflowed the 9x13 pan. I guess Mrblocko did do me a favor by leaving the smaller pan at someone's house. What a mess that would have been to clean from the oven floor!
You'd think that since I was baking this in the larger pan, the bake time would have been reduced. I baked this for 45 minutes, the shortest of the suggested cooking times. The bars looked nicely browned and had come away from the edges as the recipe suggested.

Once the bars cooled, I turned them out onto a cutting board and peeled the foil off. I knew it was a bad sign when the center of the bars started to stick to the foil. The middle was very gooey. I sliced up the whole thing and hoped for the best. The bars in the middle just did not want to hold their shape.
Now I did substitute half the oil for cinnamon applesauce. The recipe called for a whole cup of oil, and I thought that was a lot of oil for one batch of bars. In the past, I have used applesauce in place of oil in many different recipes and had no trouble at all. I always like to start out with swapping half of the oil before replacing all of it, just to be on the safe side. I don't know if there was too much water in the applesauce, or the bars just needed to be baked longer.

I was really glad that we had that baked ziti for back up because these bars weren't in any condition to see the light of day. They were delicious though. We've been eating them for breakfast. Num! The apple and the butterscotch chips really make a great combo. I loved how the chips sank to the middle of the bars too.

When I try this recipe again I'll still use a mix of the oil and applesauce, but I will increase the bake time to at least an hour. I don't think Blockette or Mrblocko will complain if they still turn out gooey. I think they know that just means they won't have to share.

Apple Pie Bars from The Runaway Spoon
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large baking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
6 ounces (1/2 a 12-ounce package) butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In the bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly combine the oil, eggs and sugar. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, soda and spices together in a bowl, then add to the oil mixture in the mixer, beating until thoroughly mixed. The batter will be thick.
Use a sturdy spoon to stir in the apple pieces. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly. Sprinkle the butterscotch chips over the top, pressing them into the batter lightly. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, until the golden and pulling away from the sides of the pan slightly. Cool thoroughly and cut into squares. Makes 24 bars