Apricot Bars

Apricot Bars made with dried apricots have a buttery shortbread crust and topping. Pecans and coconut create a wonderful flavor when combined with the shortbread. You don’t have to wait for apricot season to enjoy sweet apricots.

Apricot Bars bring back childhood memories for me. My grandfather had an apricot tree in his backyard in California and every summer we would can and dry all the apricots we couldn’t eat to bring home with us. I’ve never been able to find apricots on the East coast that taste like the ones from his tree. The ones we get in the grocery don’t even come close to what I remember.

All winter long, we would eat dried apricots and apricot jam and canned apricots.  It was our go-to fruit. The closest I can get to the real thing is dried apricots.  For these apricot shorbread bars, you’ll find that sweet apricot taste that comes from the fruit itself and not from a lot of added sugar like you get with most jams.  What really pushes these shortbread bars over the top in my book is the combination of toasted coconut and pecans added to the shortbread crust and topping.

Why you’ll love apricot bars

• You can make them any time of the year
• A toasted coconut and pecan crust gives a delightful crunch to each bite.
• They’re sturdy enough to ship
• Everyone loves shortbread!

What you’ll need

• Dried apricots – these can be found with the raisins and other dried fruit.
• Sweetened coconut – there’s not a lot of added sugar so I like to use sweetened coconut in these bars.
• Pecans – you could also use walnuts
• Pantry staples – salt, baking soda, butter, flour, sugar

How to toast coconut

Toasted coconut really takes these shortbread bars tot the next level. It’s really easy to toast, but doesn’t take long. If you don’t want burnt coconut, you’ll need to stand by the stove or oven. I think the easiest way to toast coconut is in the oven at 350º. It will only take a couple of minutes. Check on it frequently and stir it around so that it toasts evenly. You can also toast it in a skillet on the stove.

How do you make shortbread apricot bars

Step 1: Chop the dried apricots.

Step 2: Cover the apricots with water and boil them until they are soft. Save some of the water to dissolve the sugar in and then add the softened chopped apricots to the sugar mixture.

Pro tip: By using chopped apricots that have been softened, you get more texture to the bar then if you just used jam.

Step 3: Make a delicious shortbread and add toasted coconut and pecans to it and place three quarters of it in the bottom of the pan and bake it for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Add the apricot mixture to the partially baked crust and top with the remaining shortbread and finish baking.

Tips for cutting perfect bars

Once you’ve made the perfect apricot shortbread bar, you want to be able to have beautiful squares.

• To get perfect squares for any dessert bar I always line the baking pan with parchment paper with enough to hang over the two ends of the pan. This way you can easily lift it out of the pan to cut. If you don’t have parchment paper, tin foil will also work.
• For most recipes, it helps to first let the bars cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.  This will help you get pretty cuts without the bars falling apart.

I shipped these to Natalie and she loved them.  I would suggest taking these to your next tail gate or pot luck. While chocolate chip cookies are the standard for tail gates, these can withstand the heat and still keep their crunch.  Plus it’s something a little different that everyone will love.  

Nana sent me this recipe from an old Junior League Cookbook printed in the 80’s from Owensboro Ky.  I love these old cookbooks, you can find some of the best recipes.

FAQs and tips

More recipes that use apricots

• Apricot Dijon Chicken
• Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies
• I’m going to try this dried apricot tart from The Spruce Eats 
• Dried apricot muffins sound delicious too from The Southern Plate

Looking for more delicious dessert bars

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.

Apricot Bars

Shortbread Apricot Bars with dried apricots are covered in a mouthwatering buttery shortbread crust of coconut and pecans. You don’t have to wait for apricot season to enjoy sweet apricots. Serve these for dessert or serve these at a gathering!

4.41 from 62 votes

Print Pin

PREP: 40 minutes

COOK: 35 minutes

Servings: 28

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

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

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350º. Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.
• In a small saucepan, cover 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.
• Chop apricots and add to saucepan, 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

• Start with softened butter. If you press your finger on it it will indent but not go all the way through.
• Line the pan with parchment paper to make it easy to remove when cooled. 
• Refrigerate after cooled to make cutting into bars even easier.

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 13mg | Sodium: 95mg | Potassium: 170mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 590IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 1mg

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