Apricot Squares

  • 1 box (8-10 oz.) dried apricots
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar (divided)
  • 1/2 teasp. baking soda
  • 1 teasp. salt
  • 3/4 cup soft butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  • 1 cup flaked, sweetened coconut
  1. Place apricots in saucepand and cover with water 1 inch over fruit.
  2. Bring to a boil and add 3/4 cup sugar. Cook until thick (usually about an hour). Cool.
  3. Mix together remaining 1 cup of sugar and other ingredients. Mixture will be coarse and crumbly.
  4. Take 3 cups of mixture and press firmly into bottom of a greased oblong pan (12×8.5 or 13×9)
  5. Bake at 400º for 10 min. Remove from oven.
  6. Spread filling on the crust, then sprinkle remaining mixture over all.
  7. Bake 20 minutes more at 400º.
  • This was a family staple in 60s and 70s. When I tried it in the 90s it just wasn’t the same. Different apricots? Different shortening? Never did figure it out, so it wasn’t on the top of my list to post here (but see Ginger Cookies, Glazed Fresh Apple Cookies, and Pecan Delights — the other constants of the Longmeadow Christmas cookie baking). But Mother (who left her recipe box behind in the move to NC) is asking about it, and I’ll add any comments I get from her.
  • A batch of these came in a care package while I was away at college. They got kind of squashed in transit, of course. When I passed them around a small party in the dorm, the taste was a surprise to those who looked at them and registered “pizza bites.”

From Ruth Goucher Shoemaker’s recipe collection as copied to Nancy’s recipe box.

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