I always told myself that I’d never have a fake Christmas tree.
It just didn’t jive with me. I couldn’t imagine not going to buy one and the smell. Oh, the smell is the best part!
But…
We now have a fake tree up in our living room.
First I got a pre-lit fake Christmas tree. And now it’s already up before Thanksgiving. What is going on here?!?
You see, we found a great 6 1/2 foot pre-lit tree for under $100 that was just too good of a deal to pass up. So what?
Well, our place is itty bitty so we’d have to get a small tree, which is still pretty pricey here so the fake tree is actually a good investment. We figure that it will pay itself off in like 3 years. Plus, we already have a hard time just keeping our heads straight so I can’t imagine us properly managing watering it, which if you don’t do properly just makes it drop more needles, which means you need to vacuum even more! Yes, I’ll miss the smell of the fresh tree but I always have so many candles going that I’ll get over it.
Okay, so the tree is up and lit. I’m staring at it right now. It just doesn’t have any ornaments on it. We’ll get to that this week. It’s only been up since Sunday night so it’s not like it’s just been hanging out naked in our living room for all that long. Besides, that is when I think Autumn will be interested in it, so far so good. We’ll just have to see how things go when it’s all decorated.
I guarantee that you’ll have as much luck holding back when it comes to these bars as will Autumn when it comes to ornament hanging on the tree.
Promises!
The majority of the cake is from a boxed mix. Cheater! Yep, a boxed mix. But you are jazzing it up with the apple and pecan, which go so well with the cinnamon topping. And, of course, the glaze too! The added apple and pecans add a lot of fun fall favors- which we are still technically in, although it’s been getting ‘winter’ cold lately.
Oh man, looking at this just makes me drool. I should run out to the store to get another box of quick bread mix. And then grab another so I always have one on hand to whip this up whenever the craving hits.
Quick Apple and Pecan Cinnamon Swirl Cake Bars
Makes 16 squares
Ingredients
- 1 17.4oz package of Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread Mix AND ingredients per box
- 1 -2 apples, should yield 1 heaping cup when chopped
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Process
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Mix the quick bread mix according to the package instructions.
- Peel and chop the apple. Add the apple pieces and pecans to the prepared batter.
- Pour half of the batter in a 8″ x x 8″ greased baking pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the packaged cinnamon mixture. Pour the remaining batter over the layer of cinnamon topping. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon topping on the batter.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let cool and drizzle the glaze on the cooled bar bars. Cut into 16 equal sized squares.