This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at Georgetown chapter.

The leaves are changing colors, the sweaters are coming out, the girls have all started carrying pumpkin spice lattes- autumn is definitely here. Apple pie is a seasonal classic, but it’s not the easiest thing to throw together in a dorm kitchen. These bars are easier to make, with a nice crumbly dough instead of a pie crust. They also have a fantastic crumble-to-apple ratio (heavy on the crumble). Apple crumble bars taste delicious in almost any form: have them regular room temperature, freeze them, warm them up in a microwave, or plop some ice cream on top. These will keep for about a week at room temperature, but I doubt they’ll last that long.

Medium

Prep time: 45 minutes (including preparing the apples)
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: About 75 minutes

Servings: 15-24 (depending on how you cut them)

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 med-sized apples (I used Granny Smith)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9 x 13 pan; set aside.

Photo by Emma Delaney

2. Peel and chop up apples into small cubes. (Cubes shouldn’t be bigger than a dime.)

Photo by Emma Delaney

3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Photo by Emma Delaney

4. Work in the butter and egg with a your hands (or be fancy and use a pastry-blender) until pea-sized clumps form and no loose flour remains. This entails a lot of squishing up the butter pieces with your fingers and working that into the flour.

Photo by Emma Delaney

5. After rinsing your hands, squeeze out any excess liquid from the cubed apples between paper towels. Go a little bit at a time to get the most moisture out of the apples.