French Apricot Cream Cheese Bars

Submitted by Chris from Kansas

"Try any flavor of preserves in these delicous bars."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 24 bars

ingredients

• 1 (18 1/2 ounce) package French vanilla cake mix
• 1⁄3 cup margarine or 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 large egg

• Filling

• 1 (12 ounce) jar apricot preserves
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

directions

1. Heat oven to 350°.
2. Generously grease 13x9-inch baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, margarine and egg; mix with fork until crumbly.
4. Gently spoon 1 1/2 cups into measuring cup; set aside for topping.
5. Press remaining crumb mixture in bottom of pan.
6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
7. Spread preserves evenly over crust.
8. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and egg; beat until smooth.
9. Spread evenly over preserves.
10. Sprinkle reserved topping mixture over cream cheese.
11. Bake at 350° for 28-30 minutes or until toppng is light golden brown.
12. Chill before serving. Store in refrigerator.

Reviews

[julesstracener]

This is an excellent bar. Very easy to make. I follow the recipe exactly and it comes out perfect every time. I make these every year as part of my Christmas cookie assortment and they are always the first to go.

 

[bunkie68]

Easy to make and delicious, too! I followed the recipe exactly - made them for a bake sale at work, and they went over great. My only tip: when you're getting ready to spread the preserves on the crust, don't dump them out in a big blob - rather, dot them by spoonfuls all over the crust right after it comes out of the oven, and then let them sit for a couple of minutes before you try spreading them. I dumped all the preserves in one spot on the crust and tried to spread them right away, and the crust started to come up from the bottom of the pan! It worked much better after I let them warm up a little bit. Delicious - I'll be trying them again with different flavors of preserves. Thanks for sharing, Chris!