Apple Spiced Oat Bars

Hi friends! Did you have a good weekend?! On Friday Jared and I got take out sushi and snuck it in my huge madewell bag into the movie theater. It was one of the best date night ideas we have had in a while. We saw ‘Burnt’ with Bradley Cooper while I nommed on my salmon rolls. The movie was … good. Not my favorite Bradley Cooper movie but he’s kind of like pizza… even bad pizza, is good pizza. But my favorite day was sunday.

 On Sunday I got to shoot my first ever engagement shoot (yes, I do love photographing things other than food!) Especially happy people in love! I shot Lauren and Ryan in a beautiful mountain setting. They turned out gorgeous! I’m thinking of starting a separate blog just for photography… what are your thoughts?!

This weekend was also filled with apple oat bars.

 After I made these I had this undying thought that they are the ‘lazy woman’s apple pie’ recipe. First reason for this.. I had all the ingredients in my pantry, so no trip the store necessary. Second reason… they take HALF the time to make. Instead of peeling half a dozen apples you will only peel three small ones. Third reason… Apple pie is sort of the mother of all pies and you can’t ever really ‘re-create’ that but you can make these bars that taste awfully similar! So there you have it, lazy woman’s apple pie bars. 

Your welcome. 

Apple Spiced Oat Bars

for the bar

1 1/2 Cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2  Cups of oats (not quick oats)
1 Cup of brown sugar
1 Teaspoon of cinnamon
10 Tablespoons of cold butter, cubed

for the apple slices

3 Small apples thinly sliced
1/4 Cup of brown sugar
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 Teaspoon of salt
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well blended. Add in cubed butter and blend with a pastry blender or fingers. Mixture should be like chunky cornmeal. 

Line a 9×13 inch baking pan (I used a small cookie sheet) with parchment paper. Press 3/4 of this dry mixture into the pan.

Peel, core, and thinly slice your apples and mix into a bowl with brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon. Place apple slices neatly onto oat bar mixture and top edges with remaining oat mixture. Bake for 35 minutes and cool for 10 minutes before serving.