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CHOCOLATE CHIP APRICOT BARS
For apricot filling:
1 cup diced B&R Farms Dried Apricots (firmly packed)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
For chocolate chip mixture:
11/3 cups pecans (about 4 ozs)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ tsp salt
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick ( ½ cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
confectioners' sugar for sprinkling bars
In a 1 ½-quart
heavy saucepan combine B&R Farms dried apricots, granulated sugar,
and water and simmer covered, 15 minutes. Remove lid and simmer mixture,
stirring and mashing apricots, until excess liquid is evaporated and filling
is thickened. Stir in vanilla.
Preheat oven to 350 F. and grease and flour an 8-in-square baking pan,
knocking out excess flour.
In shallow baking pan toast pecans in middle of oven until golden brown,
8 to 10 min, and cool. In a food processor pulse pecans, flour, brown
sugar, and salt until pecans are coarsely chopped. Add chocolate chips
and butter and pulse until pecan mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Press about half of chocolate chip mixture onto bottom of prepared baking
pan and spread evenly with apricot filling. Crumble remaining chocolate
chip mixture evenly over apricot filling, pressing down gently, and bake
confection in middle of oven, 1 hour, or until golden. Cool confection
completely in pan on a rack. Sprinkle confection with confectioners' sugar
and cut into 16 bars.
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