Apricot Oat Bars

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 packed cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg, at room temperature, beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Filling:
• 1 (13-ounce) jar apricot jam or preserves (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 8 dried apricots, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/3 cup)

Details

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

Preparation

Step 1

Put an oven rack in the center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13x2-inch metal baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.

Filling: In small bowl, mix together jam and apricots. Set aside.

Crust: In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir in oats and walnuts. Add butter, egg and vanilla and stir until incorporated.

Using fork or clean fingers, lightly press half of crust mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Using spatula, spread filling over crust leaving 1/2-inch border around edge of pan. Cover filling with 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.