Simmered dried apricots, a buttery shortbread crust, and a crunchy topping of toasted coconut and pecans come together in these old-fashioned dried apricot bars. The filling has real pieces of fruit instead of jam, and there are no eggs and no fresh apricots needed. One shortbread dough makes both the crust and the topping.

Two apricot cars on a plate. — The toasted coconut and pecans are mixed right into the shortbread dough, so the crust and the topping both get that toasted, nutty flavor.

Real Apricot Pieces, Not Jam, Between Two Layers of Shortbread

Plenty of apricot bars start with a jar of jam or a bag of fresh apricots. However, in this version dried apricots are chopped and simmered for 20 minutes, then cooked down with sugar and a little of their own cooking water, so the filling turns out thick and soft instead of runny.

The crust gets a 10 minute head start in the oven before the filling goes on, which keeps the bottom from going soggy. Once the pan has cooled, these slice into clean squares and hold up well enough that I’ve frozen a batch and mailed it to my daughter. The recipe came from my mother-in-law’s Junior League cookbook, and it’s one I come back to often.

The Closest I’ve Come to My Grandparents’ Apricot Trees

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My grandparents had apricot trees in their backyard in California, and I’ve loved apricots all my life. We ate as many fresh ones as we could and canned and dried the rest to bring home. The apricots at the grocery store here have never tasted like those, but dried ones come the closest to those summers. I’ve been making these bars with them since the 1980s.

A stack of three apricot bars with parchment in between.

Jam Runs and Doesn’t Taste Like Apricots

I tried these with jam, and the filling came out too runny with hardly any apricot flavor. Dried apricots fix both problems. The 20 minute simmer is all the softening they need, so there’s no soaking step. Save the ¼ cup of cooking water, because it’s full of apricot flavor and it’s what the sugar and apricots get cooked in. Shortbread on the top and bottom works with other fruit too, like in my strawberry shortbread bars with a cream cheese layer.

What I’d Tell You Before You Start

Toast the sweetened coconut in a 350º oven, spread out in a single layer, and stay close. It goes from golden to burnt fast, so stir once or twice until it smells toasty. The stovetop works too, but the oven is my go-to.
Start with softened butter. If you press your finger into it, it should indent but not go all the way through.
Pecans are optional but I wouldn’t skip them. A reader tried walnuts instead and said they were great too, and they are what I use in the topping of my shortbread apple bars with caramelized apples.

Featured reader review

“THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING!!!
Honestly I have never EVER made sweets, so it’s my first time and very successful! I had some dried apricots and wasn’t sure what to do with them. Looked online and found this recipe. Decided to make and if it wasn’t successful I would throw it away (since no experience in making sweets). But instead, came up great. It’s very easy to make and time consuming in moment of instead going to the store and buy cravings to make it at home. The only thing I have changed was the pecans since I did not have some and switched with walnuts, it’s great too.
Barbara, I thank you for this recipe! ❤️”
Dani

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A pan of cut apricot bars on parchment paper.

Only a Few Essentials (The Rest Are Probably in Your Pantry)

The exact amounts are in the recipe card below.

The ingredients for apricot bars. — Gather the ingredients.

Dried apricots: Look for standard soft, orange dried apricots. You’ll need 12 ounces, which is about 1 ½ cups once chopped.
Sweetened coconut: Use sweetened, not unsweetened, because it adds just the right chew.

Here’s How It All Comes Together

Step 1: Start with the apricots

Dried apricots, chopped on a cutting board. — Dice the dried apricots.

Step 2: Soften and sweeten

Boil the apricots then reserve some of the water to make the filling.

A saucepan with cooked apricot mixture. — Cook with water and sugar.

Step 3: Make the crust

A mixing bowl of the shortbread mxiture. — Add toasted coconut and pecans to the shortbread.

Place three quarters of it in the bottom of the pan and bake it for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Assemble and finish baking

Add the apricot mixture to the partially baked crust and top with the remaining shortbread and finish baking.

Want Neat Slices? Don’t Skip This Part

Let them cool. Really cool. Room temp first, then chill them if you can. Lift them out using parchment overhang, and use a long sharp knife. You’ll get clean edges and no messy corners.

A batch of apricot bars on parchment paper.

If you’ve got a bag of dried apricots in the pantry, this is a from-scratch way to put them to good use, and a recipe worth keeping in your back pocket alongside my other brownie and bar recipes.

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.

Old-Fashioned Dried Apricot Bars with a Shortbread Crust

Author: Barbara Curry

4.50 from 83 votes

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PREP: 40

COOK: 35

TOTAL: 1 15

Servings:

Video

Ingredients

▢ 12 ounces dried apricots (11/2 cups) chopped
▢ 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar divided
▢ ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
▢ 2 cups all-purpose flour
▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
▢ ½ teaspoon salt
▢ 1 cup sweetened coconut toasted
▢ ½ cup pecans chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.
In a small saucepan, cover chopped apricots with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until soft. Drain, reserving ¼ cup water. Place ¼ cup water back in the saucepan and add ¾ cup sugar. Cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved.
Add the cooked apricots back to the saucepan and turn off the heat.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and 1 cup sugar and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk together four, soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until combined. Add toasted coconut and pecans.
Place ¾ of the mixture into prepared pan, pressing it with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake for 10 minutes until it is golden brown. Remove from oven and spread apricot mixture over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust over the top and bake an additional 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Barbara’s Tips + Notes

Drain the simmered apricots over a measuring cup so you save the ¼ cup of cooking water the sugar gets cooked in.
Toast the sweetened coconut at 350º and stay close, because it goes from golden to burnt fast.
Cool the pan completely before cutting, then chill it if you have time for the cleanest slices.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To freeze or mail them, freeze first, then wrap tightly.

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Comments

4.50 from 83 votes (65 ratings without comment)