Apple Buckwheat Bars (gluten free)

My husband works on a farm with a small apple orchard, so he brought some home on a day I was craving pumpkin bars. My mind went to these bars, with the thought to substitute applesauce for pumpkin puree. 

If you’re making your own applesauce, a stainless steel food mill is a wonderful tool to use, because you can simply cut apples into quarters (no need to peel or remove the core) and cook in a little water until tender, then the food mill does the work of removing the seeds and skins. You can often find nice food mills at thrift stores or garage sales. A food mill is especially nice if your apples have pink skin, because your applesauce will turn pink! 

Dry ingredients:

-1 cup almond meal 

-1/2 cup tapioca starch 

-1/2 cup buckwheat flour

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda 

-1 teaspoon cinnamon 

-2.5 teaspoons pumpkin spice 

Wet ingredients:

-15 oz. unsweetened applesauce (ideally homemade so it’s thick like canned pumpkin puree)

-1 large or two small finely diced apples, skin on is fine

-3/4 cup melted butter or olive oil

-1 cup lightly packed brown sugar (can reduce as low as 2/3 cup sugar if desired)

-3 eggs

-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-1/4 cup milk 

Frosting:

-1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature

-8 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature

-1/2 cup powdered sugar or 1/4 cup maple syrup (you can certainly add more sugar to taste, this amount is just my personal preference)

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13"x9" baking dish and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, applesauce, finely diced apples, and brown sugar until well combined. Next, add the melted butter or olive oil, vanilla, and milk to the apple mixture, whisk thoroughly until smooth.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and stir to combine until the batter is smooth. Pour into prepared baking pan, and bake for 25 minutes. 

At the 25 minute mark, check to see if bars are cooked through by inserting a knife or toothpick into the center. My oven leans hot, so you’ll have to adjust the baking time based on your oven.

Keep baking until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the bars comes out mostly clean, with just a few damp crumbs on it. Do not over-bake!

To prepare the frosting, combine all frosting ingredients in a food processor/stand mixer/ or use a hand mixer, and mix until very smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl down a couple times. 

Spread frosting over bars once the bars are fully cool, and enjoy ♥️ Refrigerate leftovers.