An Exchange of Goods

A coworker of mine has a fun little agreement with me that began in April. I made a butterscotch cake for the Keeneland horse race for a group of people I barely knew (as I was invited by a friend, yet knew nobody else!). One guy in particular was commenting on how great the cake was and told me that his mother makes her own apple sauce and has been doing so for years.

Since then he has brought me a jar of his mom's apple sauce with one catch: I have to make something with it, and as payment I get to keep the rest of the jar of apple sauce for my own enjoyment. I happily agreed!

I've baked muffins for him the first time around but because of our schedules never really working out with one another, it wasn't until last week that he could get another batch for me. The muffins I made last time weren't that great, so I decided to take a different route: bars.

Apple Oat Bars

Makes 20 bite-sized bars.

Based on this recipe.

Filling:

3/4 cup apple sauce

1 cup dried apple rings, chopped roughly

Base/Topping:

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda blend

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla

2 egg whites

1/4 cup melted margarine

1/4 cup apple sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

Mix together filling ingredients and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix remaining dry ingredients. Add melted butter, followed by all remaining wet ingredients.

Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan, as evenly as possible. Spread filling over crust. Top with remaining oat mixture, pressing evenly so it covers all of the filling.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool before cutting.