The smell of cinnamon makes my tummy hungry! It is one of my favourite spices and put that with apples and of course you have a winning combination for a pie. Apple pie is a lot of work as it would include the rolling of pie crust, which if you know me, is up there in the category of things I dread to do.
So when I was leafing through the Canadian Living Holiday Baking 2014 magazine and found a recipe for Dutch Apple Pie squares I said to myself – now that is a wonderful idea. Shortbread crust with apple pie filling topped with a crumble and every layer with cinnamon in it…can’t get much better than that.
I have found a on-line Canadian company called the Vanilla Food Company and it is where I buy all of my vanilla beans and their prices are reasonable, but it is also where I buy my cinnamon. Their Saigon cinnamon has quite the punch and it is fantastic in baking. There aren’t a lot of on-line Canadian baking companies so check theirs out!
This recipe makes a 9×13 pan and it is quite filling so it will feed a crowd and it also keeps well at room temperature for a few days. There was a few pieces left on day 3 and my Dad ate them up, but then he loves any kind of dessert.
Enjoy this winning apple and cinnamon combination!! You won’t be disappointed.
- Crust
- ¾ cup butter, room temp
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- Filling
- 8 cups thinly sliced peeled and cored apple, I used Royal Gala- about 5 apples
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Topping
- ¾ cup rolled oats, large flake or quick (not instant)
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup butter, room temp
- Crust:
- In bowl of stand mixer, beat butter with sugar until fluffy.
- In separate bowl, whisk together flour,cinnamon and salt. Mix into butter mixture until it starts to clump together. Press into the bottom of a parchment lined 9x13 pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven just until edges are turning older, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes.
- Filling:
- Meanwhile, in a separate bowl stir together apples, sugar,flour and cinnamon.
- Topping:
- In a the same bowl you used to make the crust, combine the topping ingredients and mix with paddle until mixture starts to crumble together.
- Spread the apple mixture evenly on the slightly cooled crust. Sprinkle with topping and press down slightly. Bake in 350 degree oven for a further 45 minutes until topping is golden brown.
- Let cool in pan.