Hello friends! Have you ever been at a point of exhaustion where, "I'm exhausted!" just doesn't even seem to describe where you are?

That's kind of how I'm feeling.

I'm not sure why, but this round of Clark being gone has me feeling like I need the caffeine patch, or a week at the spa when next he's home. I'm just walking around like a zombie half of the time. I'm lucky my head is attached, because I truly think I'd forget it if it wasn't.

That's where I am right now.

However, I feel very motivated with the blog. I've been trying to post just about every day. It gives me something to keep myself accountable with. I'm not sure how long it will last, because we are also trying to cut down on Michael's TV time (yeah... I'm awful at turning it on to give mommy a breather). So please enjoy my consistency while it's consistent! HA!

These bars were meant to be "just" apple bars... but that didn't seem right. There are plenty of bars out there (including the recipe these were molded from) that are apple spice and so delicious.

But, just FYI, they are rather time consuming. You can make them throughout the day. If you want to make them in one setting... just make sure you have other things to do while your crust is sitting and the apples are cooking and... yep.



Ingredients:

Crust
- 1.25 C unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 7 tbsp VERY SOFT butter (almost melted, but still "formed")
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp water

Apple Filling
- 3 to 4 big apples, sliced thinly (I used granny smith)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sugar (I'd say this is optional)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water

Topping
- 1/2 C all purpose unbleached flour
- 2 tbsp butter (cold/cut into pieces)
- 4 tbsp Nutella
*Make sure to have enough Nutella to also coat your crust with it before adding your apples!*

Directions:

For the Crust
- Line a 11 x 7 pan with parchment (or wax) paper, with some hanging over the edges.
- In the food processor, add all of your crust ingredients. Pulse or place on low until you have a ball of dough. If it's too dry, add a little more water.
- Place the dough in prepared pan and use your hands or a spatula to spread it evenly across the bottom. Cover with foil and chill for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Make the filling and topping during this time. Preheat your oven to 375 so it will be ready at the end of your 20 to 30 minute wait.
- When the crust is chilled cover it with parchment paper, fill it with dry beans/uncooked dry rice/baking beads/pie weights and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the paper and the beans and reduce the oven temp to 350. Bake for 5 more minutes.
Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling
- Put your prepared apples (cored and sliced) in a sauce pan along with the *optional* sugar, water, butter, and cinnamon. Cover and cook over low heat for about 12 to 15 minutes (or until the slices soften).
- Remove the lid and cook a little more until the liquid evaporates. You don't HAVE to stir them-- it's your choice!
- Cool completely.

For the Topping
- Place all your ingredients in the food processor (since it's already dirty-- no need to wash it) and pulse several times until all ingredients are well combined and it's rather crumbly.

Put it all Together
- Spread Nutella across your cooled crust.
- Spread your apple filling evenly across the Nutella.
- Add your crumbly topping as evenly as possible.
- Bake on 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Time consuming, yes. Worth it? Oooooooh, yeah.