I’m so excited to finally have my kids back in school it’s hard for me to pick what to do first. Today I did a little bit of everything, including make these Apricot Coconut Almond Bars. I was in the mood to make some sort of bar cookie thing and had a craving for apricots and coconut. The almonds were an afterthought.
I found two recipes on-line; one from allrecipes.com and the other from foodandwine.com. I pretty much went off of the Allrecipes.com recipe, but the recipe called for walnuts, which I thought was an odd choice. Almonds and apricots go so well together that I could think of no reason not to exchange the walnuts for sliced blanched almonds. I increased the amount of apricots from 2/3 to 3/4 cup and I decided to throw in 1/4 cup of apricot preserves for shits and giggles.
These were easy to throw together and sliced up really nicely. They are not too sweet and would be perfect to bring to one of those class coffee’s or PTO meetings, or would be a great lunchbox snack.
Apricot Coconut Almond Bars
Original recipe from allrecipes.com, altered a bit by Crafty Farm Girl, September, 2011.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup sliced blanched almonds
1/4 cup apricot preserves
3/4 cup flaked coconut (optional)
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar for decoration (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, and 1 cup flour. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan and bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven.
In small saucepan, bring apricots and water to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar.
Stir in 1/3 cup flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice.
Fold in nuts and chopped apricots. Stir in coconut, if desired.
Pour over the prepared crust and spread evenly.
Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm.
Cool, and dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired before cutting into squares.
Apricot Coconut Almond Bars
Original recipe from allrecipes.com, altered a bit by Crafty Farm Girl, September, 2011.
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup flaked coconut (optional)
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar for decoration (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, and 1 cup flour. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan and bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven.
In small saucepan, bring apricots and water to a boil, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs and brown sugar. Stir in 1/3 cup flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and lemon juice. Fold in nuts and chopped apricots. Stir in coconut, if desired.
Pour over the prepared crust and bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm.
Cool, and dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired before cutting into squares.
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