Apricot Pecan Bars

This recipe came to me with the title "Delicious Apricot Bars." I am always a little skeptical of recipes whose authors feel the need to use a descriptor like "delicious" or "wonderful" or "fabulous" in the name of the recipe -- if it's really that good, it shouldn't need to say so in the title. But it turns out they named this recipe wrong anyway. A more accurate name would be "Phenomenal Apricot Bars." These bars are truly amazing: with a slightly crisp, sugary-buttery crust topped with a gooey brown sugar-pecan-apricot mixture, they are a definite crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients:

- 2/3 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup butter (cold)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/3 cups sifted flour, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 eggs, beaten well
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans recommended)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 inch pan.

Place apricots in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then boil for 10 minutes. Drain, cool, and chop.

While apricots are boiling, combine butter, sugar, and 1 cup flour in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, mix until crumbly. Press into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, sift together remaining 1/3 cup flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, gradually beat brown sugar into eggs. (I used a whisk to beat in 1/4 cup brown sugar at a time.) Add dry ingredients and mix well (again, a whisk worked well). Stir in vanilla, nuts, and apricots. Spread over base.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. (Baking time with a metal, non-stick pan was approximately 25 minutes.) Cool completely before cutting, or the topping will ooze all over the place. Bars can be cut as small as 1 or 1 1/2 inches square.

[Optional: Sprinkle or dip bars in powdered sugar after they are cooled and cut. I didn't try this -- they were delicious as is.]