Food for thought...Danish Apple Pastry Bars

A couple weeks ago I bought a half a peck of apples from the local orchard at our farmer's market. My original intention was for fruit for lunches. Well...some how that didn't happen and I needed to use these apples. So I searched the interwebs until I found a new recipe online and made it my own. Here's what you need to make these wonderful fall treats:

Pastry

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk (approximately)

Filling

6 medium apples

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract (if desired)

Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp milk

There's no ingredient picture because I was throwing everything together late. Please forgive me. There's plenty of pictures for the steps though!

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Peel, core, and slice your apples thinly. Place in a large mixing bowl. To prevent apples from browning before you move to the next step feel free to add a dash of lemon juice. Give them a little toss to coat evenly. 

Step 2. Add packed brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla (if desired) to the mixing bowl. Make sure your hands are clean and then give those babies a toss. Set the bowl aside until ready to fill dough.

Step 3. To make the dough, add flour, salt, and tabs of cold butter to your food processor. It is a thousand times easier than using a pastry blender or fork. Add one stick of butter's worth at a time. Pulse until the mixture resembles course crumbs. 

Step 4. In a liquid measuring cup, add the egg yolk. Beat it slightly and then add milk (~1/2 cup) until the measure reads 2/3 cup. Add the mixture to food processor slowly until the dough is slightly sticky. 

Step 5. On a lightly heavily floured surface, roll out about 2/3 of dough. Fold several times and roll it out. Roll out to about 16x20. If the dough sticks to your surface (like it did with mine) roll it up in your hands and work in some extra flour. Then roll out.

Step 6. Fold dough in half and press into bottom and sides (about 3/4" up) of an ungreased 13x9 pan. Take your delicious apple mixture and pour that in. Make sure to drizzle the juices at the bottom on top of it all. 

Step 7. Roll out the remaining dough to 13x9. Press onto the top of your pan. Slice holes in the crust so it doesn't explode the steam can escape. I made mine into an argyle type pattern. Make sure you pinch together the bottom and top crust.

Step 8. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Please don't judge my dirty oven window. Now I won't lie, the recipe I was following said to bake for 25 minutes THEN add the foil. It was just about the worst instruction ever. I mean, have you ever tried to put foil on a 375 degree pan?! It's rough and hot. Burning sensations WILL occur. So add it first then take it off.

Step 9. Remove foil from dish to allow it to brown. Bake for an additional 25 minutes until golden brown. Then remove from oven and let cool. 

Step 10. While the bake is cooling. Put powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons of milk in a liquid measuring cup. Mix together until well blended. I also added about 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to the icing as well. You don't need to do that though. Then...drizzle, and drizzle, and drizzle.

Step 11. Allow bake to cool completely before cutting into 18-24 squares (depending on your portion size). Or if you can't help but try one before it's completely cool, make sure it's not steaming or boiling still. I waited about 45 minutes until I couldn't stand it any longer. 

Step 12. Enjoy! I think these would pair perfectly with apple cider ice cream. Now, I'll just have to figure out how to make that.

Let me know if you try this recipe and how they turned out for you. I'd love to see some pictures of these delicious treats! Especially considering I made mine yesterday and there are four left...