Apricot Crumble Bars

A melt in your mouth crumble bar with sweet, yet slightly tart notes, of apricots and orange zest. All topped off with a delicious crumble and crunchy slivered almonds.

What’s not to love about a treat that's essentially a fruit crumble in a hand held package? I always double the fruity filling because I like my crumble bars packed with fruit, just a ribbon of color won't do.

Apricots, orange zest and almonds are packed onto a doughy base with just a hint of cinnamon. Then the fruit is topped with crumble and almonds. These make a delightful snack at any time of day. It even passes as dessert with a scoop of ice cream!

These are so simple to make. They took about 15 minutes to throw together and required very little equipment. The dough recipe makes both the base and the crumble topping - I always love a recipe that has minimal clean up! The fruit was canned so I didn’t even need to chop it, I just roughly tore up the apricots. They’re hidden under the crumble so you can’t see them anyway (pastry chefs, look away!). xoxo Kirsty

Makes 12-16 bars (8"x8" or 20cmx20cm tin)

• 1-1/2 cups (190g) flour

• 1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar, lightly packed

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

• 1 egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons (30ml) milk

• 1/4 cup (25g) slivered almonds

APRICOT FILLING

• 2 - 15oz.cans of apricots in syrup, drained

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

• zest of one orange, finely grated

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 inch (20cmx20cm) baking pan with parchment paper. Leave some hanging over the sides so that you can lift out the bars when they're done.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cubes of butter and use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until it you have pea-sized crumbs.

Combine the egg, vanilla extract, and milk in a small bowl. Pour over the flour mixture and gently mix together until the it resembles wet sand. I find it easiest to use my hands, this also gives you the best texture in my opinion.

In the bowl, score the mixture into four parts with your hand and set aside one quarter of the mixture. Transfer the remaining mixture into the prepared pan and flatten it with your hands. It will be a little crumbly but don't worry! Set aside to make the filling.

For the filling, there's no need to chop the apricots as they’ll be hidden by the crumble, so just go ahead and tear them into large pieces. You can chop them if you want to, but it just seemed like an extra step when they’ll be covered with that delicious crumble.

Gently combine the apricots with the cornstarch and orange zest. Distribute the fruit filling over over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture all over the filling. Sprinkle the oats on top. With the your hand lightly press the topping down so it adheres to the fruity layer.

Bake for about 38-40 minutes or until the top is lightly brown. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Lift the cooled bars out using the parchment paper sling. Cut into squares or bars. Cover and store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge

for up to 1 week.