It’s apple season! Which means there are so many fun things that I can be baking with apples. And we have more than enough apples to spare. A few weeks ago,, B and I went apple picking. And then we got a few apples in our CSA. And then we got a few apples at a race we did. Needless to say, I had a few extra apples to spare. I didn’t feel like making a pie. Or a cake. Bars? Perfect! I definitely recommend you try these – with or without the glaze. B loved them without the glaze with his morning coffee. And then I brought them with the glaze to B’s family’s clambake as a sweet treat. They’re easy, and smell amazing in the oven.

Apple Bars with Maple Brown Butter Glaze

Here’s what you need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup apple, chopped (I used 2 large apples)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Here’s what you need for the glaze:

• ¼ c (½ stick) butter, browned
• 1 – 1 ½ c powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 Tbs pure maple syrup
• 1-2 Tbs milk, if needed (I used almond milk)

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Stir in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top of the bars.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Here what you do to make the brown butter maple glaze:

1. Heat butter on a saucepan on low to medium-low. Once butter is melted, heat a little longer until butter starts to smell and turn a light brown / caramel color. Stir and keep an eye on butter so as not to burn!
2. When brown, stir in sifted powdered sugar with a whisk. Stir carefully, removing any clumps.
3. Add in maple syrup and continue to stir. Depending on consistency, add milk. I only needed 1 Tbs of milk and used what I had on hand – unsweetened almond milk.
4. Drizzle glaze on top of cooled bars.
5. Enjoy!