First of all I have to say that I made a lot of modifications. I was looking for a healthy cake/bar with applesauce that we can eat as a family for dessert and not blow a bunch of calories! This turned out to be a good starting point. I used turbinado sugar (same sweetness as processed but comes in crystals--still has that molasses flavor but lighter). We had some leftover cinnamon applesauce so I used that and the little bit of extra cinnamon was great. Instead of raisins I chopped up half of a big gala apple (skin on important vitamins) and used about a third of a cup of chopped walnuts. I also used 2/3 whole wheat flour instead of all white. That said it's a delicious moist bar with a wonderful flavor and I think the apples and walnuts make it much more satiating too. It's also very quick and easy to make popped it in as I was making lunch. The only reason I didn't put 5 stars is because I made so many changes and didn't leave it as-is.
A very nice, cake like texture. Almost like a spice cake. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was I didn't care for the icing. I will make this again but make a different icing.
These are a very moist bar. They have a nice flavor. Next time I think I will just dust with powdered sugar instead of icing them.
GREAT-I used 2 egg whites instead of 1 egg -Great tasting and texture
This is good stuff! I'm trying to eat healthier so made some adjustments. I used 1/3 cup wheat flour 2/3 cup white. Only used 1/2 cup brown sugar but next time will use 1/3 because the raisins really make it sweet enough for our taste even with wheat flour. Also increased the spice since we like more of a kick: 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves (I don't have or use pumpkin pie spice). I sprinkled 1/2 cup chopped walnuts on top rather than ice them. Thank you!
I have tons of chunky applesauce in our freezer and always looking for recipes to use it up. This is a winner I used double the applesauce and added some cinnamon with the pumpkin pie spice. My hubby said to be sure and keep this recipe it was a home run.
The recipe itself is excellent altho I plumped the raisins in a saucepan with a little apple juice. Drain well before adding to batter. The icing tastes good but needs more milk to make it spreadable & also to cover the entire pan. I ended up adding about a treaspoon more milk....do it slowly maybe 1/2 teaspoon or less at a time.
32 servings? You're kidding right? My hubby's idea of a serving is two pieces of about 2x2 inches on top of each other! LOL!!! I wasn't so sure he'd like them but I wanted them. I did use butter instead of shortening of course--MUCH healthier no trans-fats!
I had already tried the plain applesauce bars (same recipe as this one except it uses butter instead of shortening) from this site and I thought they would taste even better with nuts or raisins. They indeed do! We really enjoy these bars as an afternoon snack or even as a dessert! I also feel it's impossible to fail... I completely messed up the proportions the second time I made them and they still tasted great!
this was ok - nothing extraordinary.
