Green Apple Streusel Bars

I bought five green apples with the best of intentions, but they ended up just sitting in a bowl on my dining room table looking pretty. I love green apples, lemons, and even oranges as centerpieces, but when the end of the week draws near it is time to put that fruit to good use. I decided to make these bars with three of the apples rather than eat them one by one. These bars are great with a scoop vanilla ice cream for dessert or with a cup of coffee as a morning treat.

Green Apple Streusel Bars
Streusel
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 1/4 cup All-Purpose Flour

Mix together the brown sugar and salt. Pour in the butter and stir to combined, then add the flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until needed.

Apple Mix
3 Green Apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
Pinch of Kosher Salt

Whisk together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the apples and mix to coat. Set aside until needed.

Cake
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Kosher Salt
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar, plus more for dusting
2 Eggs
3/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the powdered sugar until fluffy. Add the almond and beat to incorporate. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined, scape bowl as needed. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix just to combined.

Assembly
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 inch square pan with parchment. Spread the cake batter evenly into the prepared pan. Distribute the apple mix evenly over the batter, note there will be some of the flour mixture left in the bottom of the bowl that didn't stick to the apples, just sprinkle it over the apples in the pan. Top the apples with the streusel. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like.