Recipe for "apple-squares"

NAME

     APPLE-SQUARES - Sugary, moist apple squares
     Try to avoid eating very many of these squares  on  the  day
     you  make  them,  as they improve immeasurably on the second
     and third day!  This recipe originally came from a Pillsbury
     bake-off.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 12-15 squares)

     200 g     unbleached white flour
     400 g     brown sugar, firmly packed
     125 g     butter or margarine
     100 g     chopped nuts (optional)
     5-10 ml    cinnamon
     5 ml      soda
     2.5 ml    salt
     25 cl     sour cream or yogurt
     5 ml      vanilla
     1         egg
     400 g     apples, peeled and finely chopped (about 2 apples)

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Preheat oven to 175 deg. C.
          (2)  In a large bowl, combine the  flour,  brown  sugar
               and margarine.
          (3)  Blend at low speed, until the mixture  forms  fine
               crumbs.
          (4)  If you want to include them, stir in the nuts now.
          (5)  Place 400 g of the crumb mixture into an ungreased
               33x22 cm pan. Press down firmly.
          (6)  Add the  remaining  ingredients  (except  for  the
               apples)  to  the  remaining  crumb mixture.  Blend
               well.
          (7)  Stir the chopped apples into  the  batter.   Spoon
               the batter evenly over the crumb base in the pan.
          (8)  Bake at 175 deg. C for 30-40 minutes.  If you  use
               the larger pan, bake for 25-30 minutes.
          (9)  Cool before cutting.  Better yet, let it  wait  24
               hours before cutting.
          (10) Store loosely covered.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 15 minutes preparation, 40  minutes
     baking.  Precision: approximate measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Joel Margolese
     Apollo Computer, Chelmsford, Massachusetts, USA
     {attunix,uw-beaver,decvax!wanginst}!apollo!joelm  apollo!joelm@mit-eddie.arpa