Browned Butter Applesauce Bars with Apple Walnut Streusel

This cakey bar is made with browned butter, walnuts and applesauce, then topped with apple walnut browned butter streusel. Browned Butter Applesauce Bars are the perfect fall snack!

Baking with apples cries out for brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and fills your home with a heady aroma of autumn.   These bars turned out to be more cake than cookie so think of them as the blondie for apple eaters.  Take a big bite of fall right here!

Many years ago, when I was still a student at the University of Texas, I had an internship with the Texas Tourism Bureau.  One of my responsibilities was writing press releases about the wonders of our great state.  Information would cross my desk and I would turn it into something interesting that the wire services would, if it caught their fancy, pick up send out to newspapers to reprint.

Now this was back in the dark ages before internet so going viral meant being picked up by either AP (Associated Press) and UPI (United Press International.) I had one story that was picked up by both.

My deliberately provocative headline read: “New England Ain’t Got Nothing on Us” and it was all about the beautiful fall foliage in East Texas’s Piney Woods. Somewhere in my portfolio, I have clipped copies of the article and the furor that ensued as all of New England and other east coast states reprinted and expressed their outrage that Texas could even START to compare. Even a few west coast papers chimed in. It was great fun and my boss and I were high-fiving all over the office! Not bad for just an intern.

For naysayers and skeptics, I’m going to send you right over to TourTexas.com. See!

When I am in the US, I wouldn’t dream of sitting outside when temperatures are still in the nineties (Fahrenheit) or the mid-thirties (Celsius) but here in Dubai, after the scorching summer, this does actually feel cool.  Relatively speaking.  So I sit outside with my newspaper and a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and as I watch pendulous yellow and red dates ripen into sticky, sweet dark brown on my palm trees, I dream of the vibrantly colored leaves in colder climes. And I bake with apples.

And one morning recently we were thrilled to get a visit from a parrot. 

Browned Butter Applesauce Bars with Apple Walnut Streusel 

Ingredients
For the base:
2 cups or 250g flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 115g browned butter – follow Kayle’s instructions here and make enough for the streusel as well.
1/3 cup or 75g sugar
1/4 cup, firmly packed, or 50g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups applesauce
1 cup or 100g chopped walnuts

For the streusel:
1 cup or 100g chopped walnuts
1 medium Granny Smith apple (about 7 oz or 200g before coring and chopping)
1/4 cup, firmly packed, or 50g brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup or 57g browned butter– follow Kayle’s instructions here and make enough for the base as well.
1/4 teaspoon salt

For drizzled glaze – optional
1/2 cup or 60g icing sugar
3-4 teaspoons milk

Method
Step one is browning your butter.  Follow the link here for full instructions and make sure you brown enough for the base AND the streusel.  Sorry to keep repeating but I don't want you to brown half a cup and then realize!

Put the browned butter for the streusel in a medium-sized bowl.  Peel and core your apple and cut it into small pieces.

Add them to the browned butter in the streusel bowl and mix well.  This will stop your apple from browning.

Add in the rest of the streusel ingredients and stir well.  Set aside.

Now we are ready to make the base.  Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a large baking pan (about 10x16in or 24x40cm) by greasing it with butter or non-stick spray.  I like to line mine first with foil, because, since I can lift it out when cool, cutting is easier.

Mix your flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.

In yet another mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the browned butter and sugars for the base.

Add in the eggs and the vanilla and beat well.

Add in the flour mixture and beat again briefly.

Using a spatula, fold in the applesauce and then the chopped walnuts.

Pour into your prepared baking pan smooth out the top with a spatula.  Make sure the batter is even all the way to the corners.

Sprinkle on the streusel topping and bake in the preheated for 25-30 minutes or until the edges pull away from the sides a little and the whole thing is a delicious golden color.

Meanwhile, measure the powdered sugar for the glaze into a small bowl and add milk one teaspoon at a time, stirring well, until the glaze is of drizzling consistency.

Remove the applesauce bars from the oven and allow to cool completely before drizzling on the glaze.  I prefer to use a piping bag for more even drizzling but you can do it with the spoon or fork.  Whatever works for you.

Just keep drizzling till it's all used up.  You can't have too much glaze. 

Now cut that applesauce bar goodness into squares.  I got 48 2in or 5cm squares.

Enjoy!

Join our hosts Laura from The Spiced Life and Rebecka from At Home with Rebecka and my other fellow Creative Cookie Exchange bakers by baking and sharing your favorite apple cookie or bar!  It’s the best way to celebrate autumn!

To join in the fun, just complete the steps below:
1. Write a blog post with cookie recipe and original photo using apples.  We would like the recipe to be one you’re making for the first time, and photos must be original.
2. Post the Creative Cookie Exchange badge somewhere on your blog so others can join in the fun.

3. Make a good faith effort to visit and comment on the other cookies in the Linky party. We all love cookies so that should be easy!
4. LIKE the Creative Cookie Exchange Facebook Page
5. FOLLOW the Creative Cookie Exchange Pinterest Board
6. LINK your blog post below using the Linky tool

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes.  Be sure to check out our Facebook page, our Pinterest Board, and our monthly posts. You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration for this month's theme, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

• Almond Apple Cider Snickerdoodles from If I Ever Owned A Bakery...
• Apple Butterscotch Cookies from Noshing With The Nolands
• Apple Walnut Cream Cheese Cookies from Magnolia Days
• Brandy Apple Bars from KarenTrina Childress
• Browned Butter Applesauce Bars from Food Lust People Love
• Caramel-Stuffed Apple Cider Spice Cookies from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Fuji Apple Cookies from NinjaBaking.com
• Ginger Sandwich Cookies with Apple Butter Cream Filling from A Baker's House
• Iced Apple Drop Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Salted Caramel Apple Popcorn Cookies from It's Yummi!
• Streusel Topped Apple Oatmeal Bars from The Spiced Life
• Butterscotch Apple Pie Cookies from At Home with Rebecka 
• Cider Snaps from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt

Chive Boursin Muffins #MuffinMonday

Savory muffins are a wonderful addition to a lunch or dinner table breadbasket.  Or make them in a mini muffin pan to serve with evening cocktails. 

This week our ingredient of choice was supposed to be blueberries but regular readers will recall that last week I baked in a bit of a panic as I rushed off to a blog workshop.  The ingredient for last week was cinnamon and I thought blueberries would go nicely.  And indeed they did!  But when I sent in the photo to my fellow Muffin Monday baker, Anuradha, the return email said, “Is this one for next week?”  I must confess that my response was a curse word.  One that is allowed on US television, but still.  And then she kindly agreed to change this week’s ingredient to chives!  I love those green onion tops and almost always have some in the vegetable drawer.  They liven up salads, add color to stews and who doesn’t like a healthy helping on a baked potato?   They are also one of the main flavor boosters (or perhaps their slim French cousins, ciboulette) of herb and garlic goat cheese.  Strictly speaking, I didn’t use the name brand Boursin, but Chive Herb and Garlic Goat Cheese muffins seemed an unbearably long title.  Boursin gives the correct idea of how these muffins will taste and, of course, YOU can use the real thing.

If you are serving a savory muffin to non-Americans, you might want to prepare them for that fact.  Not to paint whole nations with one sugary brush, but I have been informed that the rest of world assumes a muffin is sweet.  Was my informant correct?  I’d love to hear your opinion and experiences.

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes or 1/2 teaspoon regular sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil
1 cup or 240ml milk
Medium bunch of chives or green onion tops (Mine weighed about 3/4 oz or 20g after I cut the white bulby ends off.)
200g herb and garlic goat cheese – slightly frozen.  This is very soft cheese so it doesn’t really crumble or cut well.  I find that if I freeze it for an hour or so, I can cut it up with a sharp knife just before folding it into the muffin batter. That way you still end up with some solid bits of cheese.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup normal or 24-cup mini muffin pan by greasing it thoroughly or spraying with non-stick spray.

Chop your chives.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, chives and salt flakes and stir well.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and eggs.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Chop your sort of frozen cheese into crumbles and small chunks.

Fold the cheese into the batter.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

For full sized muffins, bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Mini muffins will take less time so keep an eye on them.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.  Because of the cheese, you may have to run a knife around some of the muffins to remove them nicely.

See that golden brown?  Best part of the whole muffin!

These go just as wonderfully with a glass of beer or wine as they do with a cup of coffee.

Banana Sweet Bread

With a great sweet dough recipe, variations are endless.  You can make raisin bread or cinnamon rolls or even hot cross buns.  All home bakers should have at least one great sweet dough recipe in their repertoire. The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook is a good place to start. 

Bread is magic and every country has its own way of conjuring yeast and flour and water into nourishment that not only sustains life but also gives many a reason to continue living.  (Thinking of my friend, Carol, here who would probably choose bread if she were only allowed to eat one thing for the rest of her life.)  From the roti canai of Malaysia and the baguette of France to the pão de queijo of Brazil and the aish baladi of Egypt, we have taken bread to heart as we learn to love the places we have called home.  Bread is comfort, from the therapeutic act of kneading the dough and the deep yeasty smell as it rises in a warm place, to the heady aroma while it bakes, drawing the family near.  I guarantee, you’ll never have so many friends as when fresh bread comes out of your oven.

This recipe is adapted from my old standby, Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook, 1980 edition. 

Ingredients
For the bread dough:
1/3 cup or 75g sugar
1 packet active dry yeast (1/4oz or 7g) I use Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise.
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2-3 cups or 315-375g flour
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/3 cup or 75g butter
1 egg
1 medium banana

For the filling:
2 medium bananas
3 tablespoons or 45g butter
Good pinch salt
1/4-1/2 cup or 50-100g light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Put your sugar, yeast, salt and half a cup of flour in the bowl of your stand mixer or other bowl if you are going to use hand beaters.

Put the milk and butter in a microwaveable container and heat until it reaches between 120 and 130°F or 49-54 °C.  If you don’t have a thermometer handy, this would feel quite hot to the touch (I mean, put a finger in it.) but you would be able to keep your finger in it comfortably.  The butter doesn’t need to completely melt.

Pour the warm milk mixture into the mixing bowl and beat until combined.

Add in one banana and one egg.   Beat well.

Add one cup of flour and beat well.

Add more flour, a half a cup at a time until you have a soft dough and it’s too stiff to beat in the mixer anymore.   Use a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula to mix in the last of the flour.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a floured surface.  Knead well for about five minutes.

Wash your mixing bowl out and spray the inside with a little non-stick spray or rub with butter.

Form a ball out of your dough and pop it back in the bowl to rest and rise.  Ideally, you want it to double in size.  This can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour, depending on your yeast.

Cover with a cloth and if your room is colder than 80-85 °F or °C, put the stopper in your sink and fill it part way up with hot tap water.  Set the bowl in the sink.

While the dough is rising, grease your bread pan and make the filling.

Melt the butter in a medium sized non-stick skillet and slice the two bananas into the pan.  Throw in the pinch of salt.

The butter will start to bubble up and the bananas will caramelize a little.

They are done when the milk liquids have evaporated and only the oily part of the butter is left.  Set it aside to cool.

When your dough has risen sufficiently, punch it down.  Spread it or roll it out into a rectangle (about 12x18in or 30x45cm) on top of a large sheet of cling film on a clean counter top.

Distribute the bananas and butter evenly over the rectangle of dough.

Sprinkle with the light brown sugar.  As the dough is already sweet, I used about a 1/4 cup of sugar but if your family loves things sweet, feel free to use more.  Sprinkle on the teaspoon of cinnamon.

Start rolling the dough up on the short side until you have a neat tube.  Fold the sides of the roll under.

Place the dough seam side down in your greased bread pan.  Sprinkle with a little flour and, use a sharp knife or lame´ to cut some slits in the top of the dough.  Set in a warm place - this could be the kitchen sink with hot water again, if necessary - and allow to rise until doubled.

When it’s getting close, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Almost flowing over the sides of the pan! 

Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when thumped.  Turn it out on a wire rack to cool a little before cutting.  This stuff is great just as it is but it is even better when slathered with some butter.

For breakfast the next day, assuming there is any left, toast it and apply butter liberally.  Delicious!

Enjoy!