The kids and I went apple picking the other day, for those of you without orchards this is the deal; you pick up a bag at the entrance to the orchard, grab a wagon and trek into the orchard. The rows are marked with what kind of apple
trees in that row , you walk up and down the rows smelling , eating and picking apples off the
tree until you fill the bag. The bag we picked weighed 30 pounds and cost about $18.00. It's probably more expensive to pick your own than it is to buy them at the supermarket, but there's no comparison to a fresh , crisp, right-off-the
tree apple and the kids all have such fond memories of apple picking . This year my nine y/o remarked how the
trees are smaller this year and she remembers a few years ago when the
trees were ssssssooooooooo tall ! Her aunt and I laughed and told her it's because she's so much taller now, but she was adamant about how much the
trees have shrunk!
Anyway, here's the recipe we made the first night :
Apple Streusel Squares
2 cups Flour
½ cup Sugar
½ tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup Butter or Margarine
1 slightly beaten egg
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. Cinnamon
6-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced
Optional: 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
Milk
Preheat oven to 350°
In a medium mixing bowl stir together the 2 cups flour, the ½ cup sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter til the pieces are the size of small peas. Stir in the beaten egg; gently toss with a fork to combine. Divide the flour mixture in half. Turn half into a sprayed (Pam) 13 x 9 pan; spread evenly. Press onto the bottom of pan to form a firm, even crust.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ¾ cup sugar, the ¼ cup flour, and the cinnamon. Add apples and toss to mix. Arrange apple mixture over crust. Sprinkle remaining flour mixture over apple layer. Bake at 350° for 40 - 45 minutes. Cool for one hour.
For icing, in a bowl stir together the powdered sugar and enough milk (1-2 Tablespoons) to make of drizzling consistency. Makes 15-18 servings
Instead of the icing we served it with caramel vanilla ice cream!