I am SO excited about the summer season - TONS of fresh, local and my fav fruits in season. I have this theory that I made up a few years back - EAT tons of local seasonal fruits and veg and you will boost your immune system. The local and seasonal part is the key. I do it with my kids and they seem to be flu and cold-free most of the year {maybe one a year if that - SO FAR}! Roman has yet to be sick and he's a almost 14 months old.
Anyways...so...
I woke up last night dreaming of apricot bars {I definitely don't eat those anymore}. My girlfriend Kelley Lilien and I used to make them with oats, flour and butter as a crust then topped with apricot preserves {store bought}. They were to die for.
So I thought to myself, hmmmm, wonder if I could come up with something comparable? Luckily I had local seasonal apricots on hand.
My recipe makeover turned out AMAZING, but not as firm as I'd liked. So, I am calling it a cobbler! The whole family enjoyed it, together with a scoop of Tomberlies raw vegan ice cream! YUM!
Recipe
Preserve
4 apricots
1.5-2 lemons, juiced {depending on size}
⅔c agave nectar
1 teaspoon Kuzu {wild root starch} OR chia seeds
Dough
1 teaspoon salt
1 c macademia nuts
1 c oats
6-7 dates
3.5 Tbls cacao butter, liquid
To make Preserve: In a Vitamix add first 3 ingredients. Then dissolve the Kuzu in ½c water, heat for a few seconds in a pan and it turns to a thick mixture. Add 3 Tbls of mixture to the Vitamix.
Blend until smooth with maybe a few chunks. Put in fridge until ready to use.
To make dough: in a Cuisinart chop mac nuts, oats, dates, salt until you get a course mixture. In a sauce pan warm cacao butter until it turns to liquid. Add to mixture and blend for about 30 seconds.
Press dough into glass pan, reserving about a half cup {as shown below}, pour the preserves over the top and then lay the rest of the dough on the top of the preserves.
Dehydrate for 5 hours OR if you don't have one or care to dehydrate, put in the oven on 170 degrees for 2-3 hours. Let cool.
NOTE: YOU WILL HAVE LEFT OVER APRICOT PRESERVE. USE IT TO MAKE A GREEN DRINK OR WONDERFUL SMOOTHIE! THAT'S WHAT I DID. 😉
Enjoy!
Carla
YUmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! This looks so delicious! You're a genius, Juli!
Kate
This looks so good. I make homemade lara bars, and a few days ago I made an apricot-almond larabar. It was so good. You would probably love it . Thought I would share.
Apricot -Almond Larabar
Use 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped dried apricots and 2 tablespoons date (to measure 1/2 cup total)
1/3 cup almonds
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Set out two pieces of plastic wrap for shaping and wrapping the bars. Do this first; you’ll have sticky fingers when you need it.
Place the dates and apricots in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).
Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the nuts, along with the cinnamon, to the bowl with the fruit paste. Use your fingers to knead the nuts into the paste
Divide mixture in half. Place each half on each of one of the sheets of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic around each bar and start pressing into a bar shape form, press against countertop to flatten bottom side, flattening top side and ends with flat of hand. Tightly wrap the plastic around each bar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 bars.
To make 4x as many :
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dates
1 1/3 cup almonds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
because 2 bars isn't nearly enough !