Crumbly Oat and Apricot Bars Recipe
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Somewhere between a fruit bar and a crumble, this bar cookie has an oat, honey, and butter mixture that doubles as both the crust and the topping. The bright and tangy filling is a blend of soaked dried apricots, honey, and apricot jam. It’s great on its own or served with a big scoop of ice cream.
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INGREDIENTS
- 10 ounces dried apricots (about 2 cups)
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), plus more as needed
- 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup apricot jam
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Generously coat an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
- Place the apricots in a medium heatproof bowl. Place the water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Pour over the apricots and let sit until they are plumped up and have absorbed most of the water, about 25 minutes. Reserve the saucepan.
- Meanwhile, make the crust: Place the oats, flours, and salt in a large heatproof bowl and stir to combine. Place the butter, 1/2 cup of the honey, and light brown sugar in the reserved saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for a total cooking time of 5 minutes. Immediately pour the butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. When cool enough to handle but still warm, use a measuring cup and evenly press 1/2 of the mixture (about 1 1/2 cups) into the bottom of the prepared baking dish; set aside.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apricots to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and discard any remaining liquid. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of honey, jam, and vanilla extract to the food processor and process until the mixture is mostly smooth (some small pieces will remain), about 1 minute.
- Spread the apricot filling evenly over the oat base. Evenly sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the apricot filling and gently press it in with your fingers.
- Bake until the top is browned, about 30 to 40 minutes (if using a glass or ceramic baking dish, it may take 5 minutes longer). Remove from the oven to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting into squares, about 1 to 2 hours.
I tried adding some extra honey and these worked great!
Total bust at my house as well. Wrong in almost every way I can think of them being wrong. Definitely not sweet enough. Way too thick on all three layers, which led to a huge chewy endurance test. The oat mixture is raw tasting and unsophisticated. The amount of salt was WAY too high (Yes, I used kosher salt). Buyer beware.
Hi there -
Made this recipe tonight, and while they looked like the photo, they were a bust at our house, for a few reasons. The main one is that they tasted like raw flour, despite the relatively small proportion of flour in them. Second, because the top part was made from the same mix as the bottom, it felt too solid, like a cookie. I think the topping needs to be more streusel like, and less dense. And both the guests that I served them to, in addition to noting the raw flour taste, also commented on the fact that they didn't taste sweet enough -- both wanted more brown sugar in them, and we're not people who like our deserts really sweet. The apricot filling itself was tasty, but thats about it... :-(
Not only is kosher salt less salty but also because the grains are larger than regular salt, it is less densely packed for a given volume than regular salt. So a less than 1/2 substitution is likely necessary.
arielzod: The 1 tablespoon kosher salt is not a misprint. The key is that we only test with _kosher_ salt (Diamond Crystal kosher salt, to be exact) in the CHOW test kitchen, which is less salty, by nearly half, for the same volume measurement as table salt. That said, if you used 1 tablespoon table salt for this recipe, it would indeed be very salty. Next time either use 1 tablespoon kosher salt or about 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt and you should be spot on in terms of the taste we were going for.
I know the salty-sweet thing is hot right now, but I think the tablespoon of salt might be a misprint. I used about half that amount when I made these yesterday and they still came out ridiculously salty. Delicious, but way too salty. Next time I'll try a little less than a teaspoon....