Apricot Bars

Here’s a bar recipe you probably haven’t tried before:  Apricot Bars

This is an updated recipe from many years ago.  The photographs I took for this recipe so many years ago were atrocious, so I chose to update it and share it again.

Thank you to Miranda from the CookieDoughAndOvenMitt.com blog for shooting beautiful photos of these Apricot Bars for me.  I think Miranda certainly captured how delicious these bars truly are!

I first made this recipe in the middle of a week-long family reunion.  I have 2 siblings and 11 cousins.  Everyone has families, so our family reunions are quite large and loud!  It’s the perfect sort of setting for recipe testing and tasting.

I surprised our crowd with these Apricot Bars, and they were a very big hit.  Everyone thought they were delicious!

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Apricot Bars

By Lori Lange

Dried apricots and a shortbread crust make a delicious bar everyone will love.

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 18 bars (1 per serving)

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Ingredients

SHORTBREAD CRUST

• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated white sugar
• ▢ 1 pinch salt
• ▢ ½ cup (1 Stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

APRICOT LAYER

• ▢ ⅔ cup dried apricot halves, chopped finely
• ▢ ⅓ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup chopped toasted walnuts
• ▢ 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Instructions 

SHORTBREAD CRUST

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with nonstick spray.
• Blend the flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Add the butter gradually and process until coarse crumbs form. (If you do not have a food processor, you can do this by hand by cutting the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbs form).
• Press the crumbs onto the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake until the center is golden, about 25 minutes. Keep the oven heated.

APRICOT LAYER

• While the shortbread layer is baking, prepare the apricot layer. Place the apricots in a small saucepan, and add enough water to cover them. Boil until soft, about 4 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into small bowl. In a separate, large bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer. Add the brown sugar and vanilla, and beat until thickened. Stir in the flour mixture, then nuts and drained apricots.
• Gently spread over the baked shortbread layer. Bake the bars until they are puffed and dark brown. A toothpick inserted into the middle should come out with a few crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.
• Cut uniformly into desired size. Transfer to waxed paper or rack with paper towels underneath. Sift powdered sugar over bars.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 183kcal, Carbohydrates: 26g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 8g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 35mg, Sodium: 59mg, Potassium: 106mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 368IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Here are a few more bar recipes you might enjoy:

• Peach Crumb Bars by My Baking Addiction
• Peach and Raspberry Pie Bars by Recipe Girl
• Lemon Crumble Bars by House of Yumm
• Apple Pie Bars by Recipe Girl