Happy December! I was in the mood to bake, so I sat on the couch flipping through lots of cookbooks. This one recipe from the Junior League of Birmingham, AL stood out to me. So glad I tried this recipe, because the buttery crust is delicious and these bars were great to deliver this morning to celebrate the first day of December! (If you're an apple lover, you can certainly add 1 or 2 more apples to the filling.)

Crust

1 stick butter, softened
¼ C shortening
¾ C confectioner’s sugar
1 ½ C flour

With a pastry fork, cut in sugar to the butter and shortening until creamy. Cut in flour. Using your fingers, spread crust into a 10” x 15” jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Filling

3 apples, peeled and chopped
½ stick butter, melted
¾ C brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 ¾ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Pour butter over apples and stir in brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into apple mixture. Spread over baked crust. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Icing

1 ½ C confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
2 or 3 tablespoons milk

Whisk together sugar and cinnamon. Whisk in milk until smooth. Drizzle over the bars while warm out of the oven. Cut into bars.