Apricot Oat Bars - Wheat Free

LARavenscroft's Note:

This is a recipe I found in a dairy free cookbook. I converted this when my daughter was little and had several allergies that we had to adjust for. This recipe is not gluten free or dairy free as posted but can be made dairy free by using milk-free margarine.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 32

• ¾ cup butter
• 1⁄3; cup almonds , chopped
• 1 1⁄8; cups oat flour
• 5⁄8; cup potato starch (not potato flour)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄3; cups brown sugar , firmly packed
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 12 ounces apricot jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Put butter in a 9x13-inch baking pan and set in the oven while it preheats; this will melt the butter and grease the pan.
3. Sift the oat flour, potato starch, soda, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl; stir in the brown sugar, rolled oats, and chopped almonds.
4. Add the melted butter and mix well.
5. Press 2/3 of this mixture into the greased pan.
6. Spread the jam over the crumbs, keeping it away from the sides of the pan as much as possible.
7. Cover with the remaining crumbs and press down firmly.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes, until lightly browned.
9. Cool in the pan before cutting.

Reviews

[Sydney Mike]

Made this the other day to send to work with my other half! They were devoured in no time at all, & today I sent copies of the recipe as well! I did make one small change/addition ~ I diced 5 dried apricots & included them in the apricot jam (wanting to intensify the apricot flavor)! This is certainly a keeper of a recipe! [Made & reviewed in 1-2-3 Hit Wonders tag]

[Mia in Germany]

Great recipe! I made one batch exactly as suggested - DH ate three bars straight from the oven and told me to hide them. They got a little crumbly, maybe because my oat flour was very coarse. Then I made a second batch for myself with millet and buckwheat instead of oats, margarine instead of butter, rice syrup instead of sugar and cranberry jam instead of apricot. This version was stickier because of the syrup, and it tastes VERY good!! Made for Sweet Traditions November 2009. Thanks for posting!!