Applesauce Bars

Here is another gem from Grandma Holmes's recipe collection. As you can see from Grandma Holmes's notes on her recipe card below, the result is more cake than cookie. With bar in the name, you might expect this to be chewy like a cookie. This recipe might be better titled Applesauce Cake. Whatever you call them, as Grandma Holmes notes, they are tasty. While I frequently leave out nuts or raisins in some baked goods, I used them this time, and MDS still liked them.

When I made this recipe, it only needed about 35 minutes, not 50 minutes, in the oven. I did not have cloves, so I just used a little more cinnamon. Grandma Holmes' notes on her recipe card say that this recipe is spicy. I did not find it to be spicy, but maybe that is because I did not use cloves. Grandma Holmes also wrote that the topping gets hard. I did not find that to be so, but I might have used a bit too many cornflakes because some of the cornflake pieces did not stick to the top of the bars. I did enjoy the crunch of the cornflakes.

Applesauce Bars 

• 2/3 cup crushed cornflakes
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 10 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Combine 2 tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and crushed cornflakes. Set aside. In another bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, 8 tablespoons softened buttered, applesauce and vanilla. Blend in the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, raisins and walnuts. Spread batter into a greased 9X9 pan. Sprinkle the corn flake mixture on top. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into bars. Enjoy!