Delicious Pecan Apricot Bars

An Easy Recipe For Fresh or Dried Apricots

Our kids love pecan apricot bars for their pure sweetness! We make them with fresh apricots in season, although you can used dried apricots too. They're quick and easy to make and freeze well. And you can substitute walnuts for pecans or whatever you have handy.

In the Okanagan apricot fruit harvest begins usually in very late June to med July, depending on the weather and area in the Okanagan Valley. It's one of the first fruits to come into season, though. While apricot fruit ripens, it's color changes, and the texture and juiciness improves after being picked, but the flavor of the fruit and sweetness will stay at the same as when they were picked. There are different varieties of apricots too.

Apricots are members of the peach family and so they're easy to substitute in recipes that call for peaches. They are also delicious in pastries, muffins and breads. 

Quick Tips On How to Prepare Apricots for Baking

• Apricots are stone fruit and will need their pits removed. Just cut around the indent, or seam, with a paring knife and the stone should come out easily.
• Apricot skins are so thin that they don't really need to be peeled. They should be washed gently under lukewarm water prior to using in a recipe.
• You can also brush an apricot with a bit of lemon juice, like you would with an apple, to keep the fruit from turning brown.

More Okanagan Fruit Recipes and Pages:

• Apricot Coffee Cake
• Apricot Muffins
• Peach Dessert Recipes
• Pear Desserts
• Okanagan Fruit