Quick Double Apple Snack Cake

When apples first showed up in August, I wasn't ready for them, but it's cold outside and apples are the star fruit of fall. We have a surfeit of them at the moment. It's kind of crazy, but hey, they keep well, and we picked them ourselves. Hard to beat that, right? 

If that weren't enough, my good neighbors passed along some organic heirloom apples with an incredible aroma but skins that left a bit to be desired; they weren't exactly suited to eating out of hand, so applesauce they became. If you have not done this, it is one of the easiest things ever. And incredibly rewarding. When the boys were babies, I made applesauce regularly and throwing in fresh cranberries. Maybe a separate post about that at some point? What do you think? 

This quick double apple snack cake comes together in a flash and keeps for several days, well-wrapped. It's not too sweet and plenty moist. I imagine it would take well to adding 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts or something else. I can't say for sure how much it yields, but we've been cutting irregular chunks out of it for days now, with the exception of the rather little 2x2-inch squares for the boys for lunch.

My ridiculous countertop. Honestly, who works in these conditions (note the kazoo and misplaced tea lld)? 

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup pastry flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• Pinch of cloves 
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/2 cup applesauce (preferably unsweetened)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• I large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup apples, peeled cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. 

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and set aside. 

In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the butter, applesauce, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Fold the wet into the dry ingredients, and fold in the apples. 

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until the cake starts to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes up clean.

Quick Double Apple Snack Cake: Apples and applesauce therein.