Apple Spice Bars

These are wonderful!  They are dense and moist, and chock-full of apples.  You don't have to peel the apples, so they come together pretty quickly.  They're good for dessert, but I also happily had them for breakfast a few times.  (You could think of them as a kind of coffee cake if that makes you feel better about it!)



Apple Spice Bars

2 cups plus 2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
a pinch of ground cloves
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 apples, cored and diced - about 2 cups (You don't have to peel these.  I used Fuji, since I had them on hand.)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling

-Preheat the oven to 350, and line a 9x13 pan with foil* and baking spray.
-In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.  Whisk to combine, smell the mixture and sigh happily, then set aside. 
-In bowl of stand mixer, combine sugars and butter on medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well to combine.  Add vanilla and beat to combine.  (At this point, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and beat another few seconds.)  Then turn the mixer on low and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.  Fold in apples.
-Spread the mixture (it will be thick) evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely before removing from pan.

*note - I think you could skip the foil step and just spray the pan and leave them in there after they bake.  I did the foil step, removed them from the pan using the foil after they had cooled, and then put the whole 9x13 slab back into the pan, minus the foil, for storage.  It seems like an unnecessary step.