Best 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.

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.

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-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.

APRICOT SQUARES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, orange zest, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Set aside one-third for the topping. , Press remaining dough into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Combine preserves, lemon juice and zest; spread evenly over crust. , Crumble reserved dough over filling. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.

FIRST PLACE APRICOT-DATE BARS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. For the crumb mixture, in a large bowl blend shortening, sugar and vanilla. Sift flour, soda, and salt and add to bowl. Add the oatmeal; work well with hands. Press 1/2 of the mixture onto a medium greased cooking sheet, pressing down firmly.
• 3. For the apricot filling, put the pitted dates, dried apricots, brown sugar, and apricot nectar in a sauce pan and cook for about 5 minutes until thick. Stir constantly as it can easily burn. The apricot nectar should evaporate while it cooks. Cool slightly (about 5 minutes) before spreading on crumb mixture. Once cool, spread apricot mixture on top of the crumb mixture. Top with the rest of the crumb mixture, pressing down firmly. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is brown. Cool before cutting and serving.

BEST DATE BARS

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine dates, sugar and water. Cook, stirring frequently, until very thick. Stir in walnuts, if desired; cool. , Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl; add oats and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle water over mixture; stir lightly. Pat half into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Spread with date mixture; cover with remaining oat mixture and pat lightly. , Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

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.