I have finally got these apple bars right! They look and taste similar to store bought ones but don't have all of the preservatives. Obviously the shelf life won't be as long as packaged ones but my kids like them so much I don't think they'll last the week anyway!
There are so many other fillings you could do too - apricot, apple and berry, apple and custard, pear just to name a few! I keep mine in the fridge.
Apple bars
Pastry
155g butter or nuttelex
1 cup plain flour
1 cup SR flour
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon milk if needed
Cream butter and sugar for 15 - 20 seconds speed 4.
Add remaining ingredients except milk and mix 6 seconds speed 6. Scrape sided and repeat if necessary.
Add milk and knead for 1 minute to bring it together completely.
Roll out on floured thermomat - it needs to be about 5mm in thickness. Cut rough edges off to leave a large rectangle. Cut lengthways - I did mine about 2.5 for large bars and 1.5 for the small ones.
Apple filling
Peel, core and chop 5 - 6 apples place in thermo bowl with 1/2 mc of water and 1 tspn sugar (optional) cook for 10 mins 50 deg speed 3. After 10 minutes mix at speed 8 or 9 until completely smooth. Pour into thermo server. In a small jug make a paste with 2 tspns arrowroot and 2-3 tspns boiling water - stir until completely smooth and then stir into your apple mix. Leave to cool and thicken in fridge.
Spoon small amounts of mixture down the centre of your prepared rectangles and fold sides in to cover apple mix. Pastry is fragile so you'll need to be careful in this step - I found my flat cake spatula handy here to lift pastry from thermo mat. Cut into the size bars you want and carefully transfer - fold side down - to lined oven tray.
Cook at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
Apple bars
Pastry
155g butter or nuttelex
1 cup plain flour
1 cup SR flour
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon milk if needed
Cream butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and mix until completely combined.
Roll out on floured board - it needs to be about 5mm in thickness. Cut rough edges off to leave a large rectangle. Cut lengthways - I did mine about 2.5 for large bars and 1.5 for the small ones.
Apple filling
Peel, core and chop 5 - 6 apples place saucepan with about 1/3 cup water and 1 tspn sugar (optional) cook until soft. Mash or use a hand mixer to get smooth. In a small jug make a paste with 2 tspns arrowroot and 2-3 tspns boiling water - stir until completely smooth and then stir into your apple mix. Leave to cool and thicken in fridge.
Spoon small amounts of mixture down the centre of your prepared rectangles and fold sides in to cover apple mix. Pastry is fragile so you'll need to be careful in this step - I found my flat cake spatula handy here to lift pastry from thermo mat. Cut into the size bars you want and carefully transfer - fold side down - to lined oven tray.
Cook at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
