APRICOT-DATE BARS

Apricot-Date Bars image

A makeover of the old date bars, these bars have a delightful sweet-tart filling, are thin and crispy. Really nice with a cup of tea or coffee. Store in a tightly sealed container.

Provided by Jan Mowbray

Categories Desserts Cookies Fruit Cookie Recipes Date

Time 1h40m

Yield 49

Number Of Ingredients 10

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Ingredients

1 ¾ cups quick-cooking oats
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups packed brown sugar, divided
¾ tablespoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, softened
1 ¼ cups pitted and chopped dates
1 ¼ cups chopped dried apricots
1 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 96.6 calories, Carbohydrate 16.9 g, Cholesterol 7.5 mg, Fat 3.1 g, Fiber 0.9 g, Protein 1.1 g, SaturatedFat 1.8 g, Sodium 88.4 mg, Sugar 11.2 g