Home! Yay sleeping, yay parents, yay doing my homework before arriving! Also, yay real food, real appliances…real good. To kick start the Thanksgiving bake-a-thon 2012 (disclaimer: not a real tradition), I continued the use-up-all-old-ingredients theme and substituted the apricots in my Gourmet cook(ie)book’s “Apricot Chews” recipe for pomegranate-infused craisins. Yeah…definitely thought those were dried pomegranate seeds a couple weeks ago. Layer of cooked-ish craisins between layers of saturated fat and carbs (mostly butter, sugar, oats and flour). This dessert also called for some improv, as I did not have one pound of craisins, but I was successful once again.
Apricot Chews
p. 56, The Gourmet Cookie Book
**Makes three dozen squares
Directions:
Melt 3/4 cup butter, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups each of flour and oatmeal, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and press half the mixture into a greased baking pan about nine inches square.
In a saucepan, simmer 3/4 pound dried apricots with 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar for 30 minutes, or until the apricots are soft. Add 1 tablespoon apricot liqueur after the mixture has been cooking for 20 minutes. Spoon the apricots over the crumb mixture in the baking pan, sprinkle them with 1/4 cup grated coconut, if desired, and cover them with the rest of the crumbs. Bake the mixture in a moderate oven (350°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, or until it is golden. Cut the mixture into squares while it is still warm and turn out the chews from the pan when they are cold and set.
Recipe notes:
• For the best flavor and colour, use California dried apricots (or, like, any other dried fruit)
• Use apricot brandy (but lemonade is good, too)
• Puree the apricots in a food processor after cooking (even though there’s no shame in chunks)
• Grease the baking pan with butter, line it with two crisscrossed sheets of foil, and the butter the foil. (what?)
• Make 36 squares by cutting the bars into 6 rows each lengthwise and crosswise. (if you want fewer than 300 calories per serving, then definitely)
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| Gourmet cookie book of gourmet cookies for a gourmet cookie chef |
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| “Simmer until soft”…or something |
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| Potentially too much water |
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| Had to halve the recipe; good thing too, these are fairly lethal |
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| Ta-da! Chewy indeed |
The Rubber Scraper Movement 