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CHOW: Recipes: Crumbly Oat and Apricot Bars

Crumbly Oat and Apricot Bars Recipe

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Crumbly Oat and Apricot Bars
Difficulty: Medium | Total Time: 50 mins | Active Time: | Makes: 16 to 20 squares

Somewhere between a fruit bar and a crumble, this is great on its own or served with a big scoop of ice cream.

What to buy: Make sure you don’t pick up quick-cooking oats—stick to the old-fashioned rolled kind.

See more tea party recipes.

INGREDIENTS
  • 10 ounces dried apricots (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 3/4 cup boiling water
  • 3 cups uncooked rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 7 tablespoons honey
  • 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup apricot jam
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat oven to 350°F and arrange the rack in middle. Butter an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Place apricots in a large mixing bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until apricots are plumped up and have absorbed almost all the water, about 25 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, and ground cinnamon (if using); mix until evenly combined, and set aside.
  3. In a small saucepan, combine butter, 6 tablespoons of the honey, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until bubbling and foamy, about 5 minutes.
  4. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, stirring until oats are well coated. Press 1/2 of the oat mixture (about 1 1/2 cups) into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Use the bottom of a measuring cup or glass to help ensure an even layer.
  5. Combine soaked apricots, remaining 1 tablespoon honey, jam, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a food processor. Process until mixture is puréed (it will resemble baby food), about 1 minute.
  6. Spread apricot filling evenly over oat base and sprinkle with remaining oat mixture, pressing it gently with your fingers. Bake until the bottom is golden brown and the top is well browned, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the baking dish, allowing at least 12 hours for it to fully set up. Slice into squares and serve.
    Write a review | 6 Reviews
POST A COMMENT |6 Comments

COMMENT

  • 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...+READ

    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... :-(-COLLAPSE

  • 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...+READ

    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.-COLLAPSE

  • 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....