Apple Squares
From:	Beth, New Hamshire, USA
Comments:	Serve with a generous dollop of sour cream, already sweetened with icing sugar and flavoured with vanilla. These squares are also excellent made with wild blueberries or freshly chopped peeled peaches or pears.
Servings:	10 to 12

1 cup [250 mL] unsalted butter or margarine 2/3 cup [160 mL] sugar 2 egg yolks 1 tablespoon [15 mL] vanilla 1/4 teaspoon [1 mL] salt 2 cups [500 mL] + 2 tablespoons [30 mL] all-purpose flour 3 to 4 pounds [1.5 to 2 kg] MacIntosch apples 1/2 cup [125 mL] icing sugar

With an electric mixer, cream together butter or margarine and sugar, until fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla and salt; beat until smooth. Slowly beat in flour, until no trace of it remains, but do not overmix. Cover dough; refrigerate for 1 hour or freeze for 15 to 20 minutes, to chill. Meanwhile, peel and core apples; grate into a bowl. Half chilled dough; return half of dough to the refrigerator, to keep it cold. Evenly spread dough, using your fingertips, over the bottom of a greased 13 x 9-inch [3.5-L] baking pan. Evenly cover with grated apples. Grate remaining cold dough into a bowl to get crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over apples. Bake into a preheated 350°F [180°C] oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately sprinkle with sifted icing sugar. Cool; cut into squares.