Apricot Crumble Bars

Apricot Crumble Bars

These Apricot crumble bars are made with homemade Apricot compote using Finch Foods dried Apricots. Not only are these super easy to make, but they can also be made vegan and served as a snack or a dessert with some ice cream or custard cream or even more Apricot compote. All you have to do is make the compote and make the crumble separately, then combine and bake. Simple, right? Let’s see what brings this yummy treat to life.

Ingredients for the Apricot Crumble Bars

Ingredients

For the Apricot Compote

• 01 cup of dried apricots – Shop Now 
• 03 tbsp of lemon juice
• 02 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup of sugar/icing sugar
• 01 cup of water

For the Crumble

• 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of butter – at room temperature
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 01 egg – flax egg / regular egg
• 02 tsp of baking powder
• 01 tsp of salt
• 01 tbsp of psyllium husk/corn starch
• 1/4 cup of oats ( rolled oats / quick oats)
• 01 tsp of vanilla essence

Method

Apricot Compote

• Chop the dried apricots into small chunks and add to a cooking pot along with water, lemon juice, vanilla, and sugar and bring it to boil in medium heat. Stir and cook for about 15-20 minutes until apricots are soft, tender, and mushy.
• When the apricots are fully cooked use a hand blender to blend the paste into the consistency of a jam. Alternatively, you can transfer the paste to a food processor or a blender to make the paste.

Apricot Crumble Bars

• Preheat your oven to 180°C (356 F).
• Add butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla essence to a medium bowl and mix using a hand mixture or a spatula until well combined.
• In a separate bowl add all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, oats, and psyllium husk and give a good mix.
• Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients mixture and mix using your hands until it feels like wet sand and crumbly.

Crumble Mix

• Prepare your baking dish – take your baking dish and add parchment paper to the bottom layer, add 1 to 1 1/4 cups of crumble, and spread it evenly by pressing to the bottom of the baking dish. Make sure the bottom layer is at least 01 to 02 cm in height.

Crumble Layer

• Next, add the apricot compote and spread on the pressed crumb layer evenly.

Apricot Jam Layer

• Finally, sprinkle the rest of the crumbs on top and bake for 20-25 minutes until the crumble is crispy and golden brown.

Sprinkled Crumble Layer

• Remove from the oven and let it cook down completely before cutting into bars.

Apricot Crumble Bars

• Serve with a scoop of ice cream, custard cream, or with more apricot compote.

Tips

• In this recipe, I’ve used psyllium husk as the binding agent and if you are unable to find it, you can simply use corn starch.
• Don’t be afraid to add more flavor to your crumble! You can throw in some crushed cardamom powder, nutmeg, or even cinnamon depending on what fruit you will make the crumble with.
• To add more texture and crunch to the crumble you can add rolled oats, dried fruits like almond flakes, or chopped walnuts.
• Instead of using dried fruits, use fresh fruits to make this recipe. Make the crumble and instead of apricot compote use fresh fruits like strawberry mixed with sugar and corn starch or any you can also use any other fruit preserves.