New Food Friday #10- Apple Cinnamon Fruit Bars

This is definitely the time of year for apples. I decide to try some in a yummy fruit bar. We ate this for breakfast the whole past week and they were delicious.  They came together pretty quickly too.

Celebrate the fall and try some of these apple cinnamon bars!

This recipe came from a cookbook my mother gave me for Christmas called The Simple Art  of Eating Well. There were several other variations on these bars using other fruits that I want to try out sometime.

Apple Cinnamon Bars-

Crust-
1 Cup Chopped Nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds or hazelnuts) OR Old Fashion Oats- Rolled (I used the oats, didn't have a lot of nuts on hand)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp  old unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 large egg
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling-
Cooking Fruit- 4 cups diced peeled apples
1/2 cup apple cider (or orange jc- I used orange jc)
1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cornstarch
Uncooked Fruit- 2 cups diced peeled apples
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

To Make Crust-
Combine 3/4 cup nuts or oats, whole-wheat flour, sugar and salt in food processor; Pulse until nuts are finely ground. Add butter, pulse until well incorporated.

Whisk egg, oil, vanilla in small bowl. With motor running add to food processor. Process, making sure to scrape down sides. Mixture should be crumbly. Measure out 1/2 cup of mixture and combine in bowl with remaining 1/4 cup nuts or oats (this is the topping).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9X 13 dish with cooking spray.

To Make Filling-
Combine the Cooking Fruit, juice, sugar and cornstarch in large sauce pan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is very thing- 4-5 minutes. Stir in uncooked fruits and flavoring.

Transfer dough into baking dish, spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle topping over the filling.

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and bake 25-30 minutes. Let cool before cutting about 1 1/2 hrs.

Refrigerate for up to 5 days.

What have you been cooking lately??

I really want to try these again using nuts for the crust and other fruits!

Linking to some of these great parties!