I’ve called this slice ‘Apricot Triumph’ for a number of reasons. First, the dried apricots do taste particularly flavoursome and juicy, despite being baked. Second, this recipe creates a crumbly-but-dense slice which doesn’t quite cross the cake line, therefore making one feel wholesome for making it. If you wanted to spruce this up a bit, some vanilla or lemon icing would not go amiss.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
3 eggs, slightly beaten
175g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped, dried apricots
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Mix together the flour, oats, coconut, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the butter and then the milk, stirring after each addition. Then beat in, quite quickly, the eggs and vanilla essence. Last, stir in the apricots.
It is important that you don’t combine hot melted butter and eggs together directly, as this can produce scrambled eggs. The trick is to make sure the butter has cooled a little and that you mix in the egg quickly.
Pour into a tin lined with baking paper, (about 20 x 30cm) and bake for around 45 minutes or until the top is golden and an inserted knife comes out clean. Leave to cool and then cut into squares or bars to be enjoyed in your lunchbox.