Turn to summer’s finest fruit–apricots–to create these luscious, light in added sugar, easy to make Apricot Almond Shortbread Bars.

Scale

¾ cup orange juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups quartered, pitted, unpeeled fresh apricots (may also use canned, drained or frozen apricots)
½ cup raspberry jam or fruit spread

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Preheat oven to 350 F.
With an electric mixer, mix almond flour, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and brown sugar.
Add chunks of vegan butter and mix with electric mixer until well combined; add the plant-based milk and mix to make a smooth dough (do not over mix).
Place a sheet of parchment paper into the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
Place the dough (reserving 1 cup for the crumb topping) into the parchment-lined baking dish and press to make an even crust at the bottom of the dish.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes to par-bake the crust. Remove from the oven.
While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a large pot, mix orange juice and cornstarch with a whisk until smooth. Add the quartered apricots and place the pot on medium heat, cooking and stirring until mixture thickens (about 8 minutes).
Gently spread the apricot filling over the par-baked crust.
Spoon dollops of the raspberry jam or fruit spread over the apricot filling.
Mix the almonds into the remaining dough to make the crumb topping. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit filling.
Place in the oven and bake until golden and firm (about 35-40 minutes).
Remove from the oven, allow to cool enough to slice (about 15 minutes), and slice into squares.
Makes 12 servings (1 square each).

To make this recipe gluten-free, use gluten-free flour blend instead of whole wheat and all-purpose flour.

Try a different fruit instead of apricots, including plums, peaches, nectarines, or berries.

Serve this dessert in these dessert plates (pictured on the blog).