Caramel Apple Cookie Bars

Here's another apple recipe as a result of our apple picking adventure. 

A few years ago I made something like this, but this version was much better. I adapted this recipe slightly from one I found on Betty Crocker's website. 

I meant to take a picture of a single piece and zoom in on the caramely goodness on the inside....but these things disappeared so fast I never got a chance. You may start to notice when I am trying to get through a recipe as quickly as possible, as there may be just photos of the end result (or almost the end result as seen here with the lack of picture for the individual piece...) and none of the process. 

My husband and toddler LOVED these Caramel Apple Cookie Bars! My husband really likes sweet food. Where as I prefer things a little less sweet. These were very good though.

 I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Cut your parchment to fit the pan on the long side of the pan and make it longer on the short ends so you can just lift it easily out of the pan once it's cooled.

My husband and I both are not generally corner and edge people. When mine and Sue's Dad is around we save the corners for him. We prefer the middle pieces on brownies, bars and even biscuits, with the exception of my Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies (they will be a post for another time-I assure you they are divine). But the edges on these were so nice and chewy that we didn't mind eating them. 

Just look at that edge....Somewhat crisp, yet chewy, caramely, oaty goodness. The inside pieces were soft and chewy. It was good warm and at room temp, but when we put it in the fridge, that's when it became the nice chewy caramel consistency we were looking for. 

And here's the recipe

Caramel Apple Cookie Bars

1/4 C plus 2 T shortening

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 C brown sugar

1 1/2 t salt

2 1/4 C old fashioned oats

2 1/2 C all purpose flour

1 1/2 cinnamon

3/4 t baking soda

4 1/2 C chopped apples

3 T all purpose flour

1 lb caramels

cinnamon sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400*F. Line 13x9” pan with parchment paper. (cut to fit on long sides of pan and make it longer to overlap the pan on both short sides of the pan) In a large bowl combine shortening, butter and brown sugar. Add salt, oats, 2 1/4 C flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir to combine. Reserve 2 C of the mixture; press remaining mixture in bottom of parchment lined pan. Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar over the top. In another bowl stir together apples and 3 T flour. Spread evenly over the crust in the pan. Sprinkle apples with a little cinnamon sugar. In a med saucepan over low heat, heat the caramels stirring occasionally until completely melted. Pour as evenly as you can over the apples. Distribute the reserved oat mixture as evenly as you can over the caramel. Press lightly. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar. Bake 25-30 min or until apples are tender and top is light golden brown. Cool in the pan a little so you can handle it safely. Then using the overlapping parchment carefully remove from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge.  

(adapted from Betty Crocker)

Enjoy!                                            

Sandi