Apricot And Date Bars Recipes

APRICOT AND DATE BARS

Steps:

• In 2-quart saucepan, mix orange juice, dates, apricots and cherries. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 30 minutes. Drain. In small bowl, mix dried fruit and apricot jam.
• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cookie mix and cinnamon-sugar packet. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mix in opposite directions), until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture. Press remaining mixture in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool.
• Top partially baked crust with fruit mixture. Mix reserved 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture and the pecans. Sprinkle over fruit mixture.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack, about 1 hour. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.

APRICOT-DATE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix oats, flour, 1 cup brown sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly.
• Press a little over half of the crumbly mixture into the bottom of a 10x15-inch baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until starting to brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Combine remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, dates, apricots, and orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir until thickened, breaking up any clumps, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Cool filling slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Drop spoonfuls of warm filling over the crust. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture evenly over the filling; press gently into the filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Cut into 1-1/4x2-inch bars with a pastry cutter while still hot. Cool bars in the pan, about 20 minutes.

FIRST PLACE APRICOT-DATE BARS

Steps:

• Place 1/2 cup of brown sugar into a saucepan along with the dates and apricots; pour in the apricot nectar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until the nectar has mostly evaporated and the mixture is sticky, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Grease a baking sheet.
• Stir the melted shortening and vanilla extract into 1 cup of brown sugar in a large bowl until no lumps remain. Stir in the flour mixture and oats; work well with your hands until the mixture is evenly combined. Press half of the oat mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread the cooled apricot mixture evenly over the oats, then press the remaining oat mixture evenly over top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars and serving.

APRICOT OAT BARS

Steps:

• Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 13 by 2-inch metal baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.
• Filling: In a small bowl, mix together the jam and the apricots. Set aside.
• Crust: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in the oats and walnuts. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and stir until incorporated.
• Using a fork or clean fingers, lightly press half of the crust mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread the filling over the crust leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge of the pan. Cover the filling with the remaining crust mixture and gently press to flatten. Bake until light golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool for 1 hour. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

ORCHARD DATE-APRICOT BARS

Steps:

• In medium saucepan, mix all filling ingredients until well blended. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Cool completely.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Spray rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches, with cooking spray.
• Mix brown sugar and oil in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients; mixture will be moist and crumbly. Press half of the crumb mixture evenly in bottom of pan. Spread with date-apricot filling. Top with remaining crumb mixture; press lightly.
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack about 1 hour. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.

WINNING APRICOT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Fold in coconut and walnuts., Press two-thirds of dough onto the bottom of a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Spread with preserves; crumble remaining dough over preserves. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

DATE OR APRICOT SQUARES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan (not necessary with nonstick pan).
• Combine butter, 1 cup flour and the granulated sugar in a food processor. Pulse until ingredients are pebbly and crumbly; mixture will be quite dry. Press into pan, and bake for 15 minutes or until shell is evenly cooked.
• If fruit is very dry, stew it in water to cover in a small saucepan until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain very well, then chop. Combine in a bowl with eggs, brown sugar, remaining flour and salt.
• Remove pan from oven, and pour fruit batter over crust. Bake until lightly browned and firm on edges but still a little soft in middle, about 30 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares and serve. Store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days.

APRICOT DATE SQUARES

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the water, sugar and dates. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 1-1/3 cups and is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. , Remove from the heat. Stir in spreadable fruit until blended; set aside. In a food processor, combine the oats, flour, coconut, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add butter; cover and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. , Press 3 cups crumb mixture into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread date mixture to within 1/2 in. of edges. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture; press down gently. , Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.