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Spiced Apple Pie Cookie Bar

Spiced cookie bar under a glossy, gooey apple topping.

Makes

One 9×13 pan (or an extra-thick 9×9)

Hands on

30 min

All in

2 h 20

Oven

175 °C (350 °F)

One step at a time, screen kept awake

What you need

• ¾ cup (170 g)unsalted butter, softened (bars)
• 1 cup (200 g)brown sugar (bars)
• ¼ cup (50 g)white sugar (bars)
• 1large egg
• 2 tsp (10 ml)vanilla (bars)
• 2 cups (240 g)all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp (5 ml)baking soda
• ½ tsp (2 ml)baking powder
• ½ tsp (2 ml)salt (bars)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml)cinnamon (bars)
• 1 tsp (5 ml)apple pie spice (bars)
• 2medium apples, peeled and diced small (topping)
• 3 tbsp (45 ml)butter (topping)
• ⅓ cup (75 ml)brown sugar (topping)
• 2 tbsp (30 ml)white sugar (topping)
• 1 tsp (5 ml)cinnamon (topping)
• 1 tsp (5 ml)apple pie spice (topping)
• 1 tbsp (15 ml)lemon juice
• 1 tsp (5 ml)vanilla (topping)
• 2 tbsp (30 ml)cornstarch mixed into ¼ cup (60 ml) water

How it goes

1. 1

   Line a 9×13 pan (medium-thick bars) or a 9×9 (extra thick) with parchment.

2. 2

   Cream the butter and both sugars until fluffy; beat in the egg and vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and apple pie spice, and mix in just until combined. Chill the dough 20–30 minutes.

3. 3

   Press the dough evenly into the pan.

4. 4

   Bake at 175 °C (350 °F): 22–28 minutes in a 9×13, 28–35 in a 9×9, until the edges are golden and the centre looks set but soft. Cool completely in the pan.

5. 5

   Topping: melt the butter, add the apples, both sugars, cinnamon, spice and a pinch of salt, and cook 5–7 minutes until soft. Stir in the cornstarch and water and cook 2–3 minutes more, until thick and glossy. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and lemon juice.

6. 6

   Spoon the topping onto each cut square, or spread it over the whole cooled slab and chill 20 minutes before cutting.

A couple of things

• Plain bars keep 3–5 days at room temperature; with the topping, 4–5 days in the fridge. Freeze plain bars up to 3 months.

Contains : wheat, milk, eggs