First Place Apricot Date Bars Recipes

APRICOT-DATE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix oats, flour, 1 cup brown sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly.
• Press a little over half of the crumbly mixture into the bottom of a 10x15-inch baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until starting to brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Combine remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, dates, apricots, and orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook and stir until thickened, breaking up any clumps, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Cool filling slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Drop spoonfuls of warm filling over the crust. Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture evenly over the filling; press gently into the filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until top is lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Cut into 1-1/4x2-inch bars with a pastry cutter while still hot. Cool bars in the pan, about 20 minutes.

FIRST PLACE APRICOT-DATE BARS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. For the crumb mixture, in a large bowl blend shortening, sugar and vanilla. Sift flour, soda, and salt and add to bowl. Add the oatmeal; work well with hands. Press 1/2 of the mixture onto a medium greased cooking sheet, pressing down firmly.
• 3. For the apricot filling, put the pitted dates, dried apricots, brown sugar, and apricot nectar in a sauce pan and cook for about 5 minutes until thick. Stir constantly as it can easily burn. The apricot nectar should evaporate while it cooks. Cool slightly (about 5 minutes) before spreading on crumb mixture. Once cool, spread apricot mixture on top of the crumb mixture. Top with the rest of the crumb mixture, pressing down firmly. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is brown. Cool before cutting and serving.