Super Apricot-Orange Shortbread Bars (Super Bowl, Super Easy)
I was going to post last week right after the Super Bowl but I needed to recover from the game’s crazy finish before penning a full critique of the game, the commercials, and the food (best part). I admit I was rooting for the Atlanta Falcons and for a while I thought just maybe the underdog would win. In the end, it was not meant to be, Brady and Belichick worked their magic and pulled off the greatest Super Bowl comeback in history. Ugh.
What a Game
Of course, I volunteered to bring munchies and dessert to my friend Sarah’s house for the game. Since Union Square Cafe Bar Nuts are my “flavor of the month” munchie, it was an easy choice. For something sweet, I found a recipe on Epicurious for Apricot Orange Bars that sounded so scrumptious I jumped at the chance to make them. A shortbread crust topped with apricot jam and finished off a delicious almond crumb topping, yep, making them.
The recipe is straightforward. The shortbread crust is made first by creaming the butter & sugar, adding the dry ingredients, and mixing just until it comes together. Reserve 1 cup for the crumble topping. The dough is very easy to work with. The tricky part was incorporating the almond paste into the dough for the crumble. I ended up putting the mixture in the freezer for 10 minutes before lightly pulsing it in my food processor. This created a uniform crumble and broke up the almond paste. I also decreased the almond extract in the crust. One teaspoon seemed like a lot so I used half.
An hour seemed like a long baking time. But you aren’t pre-baking the crust so it worked out fine. The 3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier seemed like a lot, it gives the filling a nice punch but surprisingly isn’t overbearing. My friend Stephanie, an avowed hater of Grand Marnier, liked these bars quite a bit..so there you go.
These are SUPER delicious and easy to make. You can find almond paste at most supermarkets. Do not mistake marzipan (which is sweetened) for almond paste. The bars were a hit at the Super Bowl party regardless of which team people were rooting for.
Finally, props to AirBnB for their commercial, awesome. Budweiser’s and Audi’s equal pay (GoAudi). I liked Cam Newton’s Big Game Buick, Melissa McCarthy’s Kia, and Squarespace’s John Malkovich for chuckles.
Apricot-Orange Shortbread Bars from Epicurious
Ingredients
- 1 cup apricot preserves
- 3 tablespoons orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup packed almond paste (from 7-ounce roll), crumbled
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9x9x2-inch metal baking pan; line bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper, extending over sides. Butter parchment. Mix preserves and orange liqueur in small bowl; set aside.
- Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in almond extract. Add flour and salt; beat just until blended. Transfer 1 cup of dough to another small bowl; add crumbled almond paste and mix with fingertips until small clumps form. Mix in 1/4 cup sliced almonds; set aside for topping.
- Press remaining dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Spread preserves mixture evenly over. Using fingertips, coarsely crumble topping over preserves, then sprinkle 1/4 cup almonds over. Press topping lightly into preserves.
- Bake shortbread until top and crust edges are golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool completely in pan on rack. Using parchment paper as aid, lift shortbread from pan. Cut shortbread into 4 equal strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 8 small bar cookies. (Can be prepared ahead. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.)