Date, Almond & Apricot Bars
This flavourful bar with its many nutritious additions, is a meal in itself! It carries well in a backpack or school bag.
Base:
1 cup Standard flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Instant Oats
200g chilled butter
1 cup brown sugar
Topping:
4 large eggs
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups Alison’s Pantry Natural Almonds
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Select Dates, chopped
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Choice Apricots, chopped
1 cup dark chocolate melts
1 cup Alison’s Pantry Shredded Coconut
Heat oven to 180°C or 170°C fan bake, with the rack just below the middle. Line a 18x28cm pan with baking paper. For base, process the flours, oats and cubed butter together, or grate the butter into the oats and flours in a bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and press mixture into the prepared pan. (Halve the base ingredients for a thinner base).
For topping, beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with a fork. Add everything else and mix together with a stirrer or spatula. Spread evenly over the uncooked base. Bake for 45 minutes, covering with folded baking paper if it browns to fast. Cool in baking pan, preferably overnight. When cold, cut in four large slabs with a sharp serrated knife. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze up to six weeks in plastic bags. Cut each slab into bars or fingers just before serving.
Download PDF version: Alison Holst’s Date, Almond & Apricot Bars