I made these for a dinner party I was attending. My husband said “the apple bars are getting rave reviews”. And sure enough they all disappeared. This was a great ending to a bar cookie that got a rocky start.

I had a few challenges this week with this recipe. The crust is to be baked alone first for 18-20 minutes. Dorie advises that “well baked is better than underbaked”. My crust was perfect after the first bake but did not survive the second bake. After 50 minutes of additional baking my crust was burnt. I hacked off the burnt bits and managed to get 18 cookies for the party. But despite this my husband still loved them and ate all the burnt ones I left at home.

My second beef is with the raisins. Since I mixed them in with the apples when I put the filling on the crust all the raisins sank to the bottom. I should have sprinkled the raisins on top so you could see them.

As always with Dorie’s recipes the taste was amazing, burnt bits and all. True to Dorie’s comment these bars became soft hours after baking. I had so much trouble cutting my bars that I was worried what my guests would think. But I had to fear not as they were a smashing success. To see how others fared go to the TWD blogroll.