Snow Day Applesauce Bars

I wasn't scheduled to have a holiday on President's Day, but the weather gave me a gift -- a snow day! Work was cancelled because of horrendous road conditions.

Now, remember this if you ever happen to be listening to a weather report in Ann Arbor: if they predict a 15" snowpocalypse, there will actually be 8" of snow. However, if they predict 2-3" of snow there will actually be 10", as we had on Monday after rumblings about a few token inches of the white stuff plus some ice that may (or may not!) be buried under the snow but can't quite be found yet. 4"-6" are predicted for tonight ... really, this could either be an avalanche or a dusting, who knows???

The snow just kept a-falling on Sunday night and into the morning, inundating us. I have a 4-wheel drive Suburban, and even *I* was weaving down my unplowed side street on Monday afternoon ... it was pretty scary with no traction whatsoever, and a cab meandering in the opposite direction as badly as I was nearly hitting me. I had been on my way to pick up Tom, who couldn't get down his own street, figuring that putting all of those wheels and some new tires to work would get me through ... ha!

I turned around, shaken, and made a cup of tea. And I indulged in one of the shortbread-based applesauce bars I'd made that morning, as I took advantage of time by myself to write and to bake.

Life is so hectic sometimes that I don't get multiple posts written all at once to free up my schedule; and I don't get to bake as often as I'd like to, either, despite it being one of my very favorite things to do.

There are the chores of daily life, as well as the perks of visiting with Jeremy and spending time with Tom. I've taken up line dancing. (OMG, if y'all only knew how ludicrous that notion is for a prissy city girl like me! But my BFF Wendy wanted to do it, and it turned out to be so much fun!!!) Several of my most cherished loved ones have life and health stressors that require significant attention and care right now. Oh, yeah, and then there's that "day job" thing!

So, a day with no interruptions and no commitments and no errands to run and no place I had to be??? Quite the luxury! My chosen word for the year was "nurture," and I certainly had the opportunity to nurture myself on Monday ... :)

These slightly sweet and subtly spiced bars provided comfort, a treat, aromatherapy -- they were just perfection on a cold, snowy day.

Applesauce Bars

2/3 cup softened butter
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons apple jelly
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 packet instant apple-flavored oatmeal

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8"x8" baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the butter, oil, sugar and brown sugar; stir in the egg and the salt. Mix in the flour. Press 2 cups of this mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.

Combine the applesauce, jelly and cinnamon; spread over the base.

Stir the oatmeal into the remaining batter; spread over the applesauce layer.

Bake for 30 minutes until topping is golden. Cool before cutting into bars.