Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice
Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice is an easy but lovely, sweet treat. With nutritious oats, fruity dried apricots plus chewy coconut, crunchy peanuts and toasted pumpkin seeds, you make it with an all-in-one method similar to flapjacks. But it’s lighter and less sticky thanks to an egg and a little flour to lighten.
Cut into bars or squares once cold, eat just as it is or with an optional drizzle of melted chocolate plus more apricot, nuts, and seeds.
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One of my favourite sweet recipes of last year was Cherry & Almond Oat Squares. Not quite a flapjack, a biscuit, or a cake, but some special combination of all three, I love how the oats in the rich, buttery bake bring chewy wholesomeness to bags of marzipan-like flavour and juicy glacé cherries in every bite.
The result was outstanding so, for my first sweet bake of this year, I’ve come up with another winner inspired by them. Using the same simple but so-good foundation is Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice.
APRICOT, NUT & SEED OAT SLICE
You may have noticed that I’ve called the apricot version a slice rather than squares. That’s because I found it almost impossible to stick to having just one of the smaller cherry and almond squares. They were just too good! So, by calling this Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice I’ve left it up to you whether to cut into 16 squares or 8 rectangular bars or slices.
Based again on rolled or porridge oats and melted butter, the slice is similar to flapjacks, but less sticky. And with a little self-raising flour and an egg in the mix it’s a touch lighter and biscuity. And the really great news is that the bake is incredibly quick and easy. Just stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, press into a tin and pop in the oven for 25 minutes.
After cooling, I like to add a chocolate drizzle and a scattering of fruit, nuts, and seeds. But it’s lovely without the topping too.
You’ll find a recipe card at the end with ingredient amounts and full instructions. But I recommend you first read the whole of this post for extra tips plus images to guide you.
EQUIPMENT
For accuracy when baking, I always recommend you use digital scales (affiliate link) and metric measurements. This is the way I create and test my recipes, so can’t vouch for the results if you attempt to convert them e.g. to American cups. You’ll also need a square baking tin with a base approximately 20 x 20 cm (affiliate link). To make removal easier, you should line the tin with baking paper and brush with melted butter.
INGREDIENTS
The main flavour in this bake is dried apricot. I recommend buying the softer or semi-dried ones as they give a much better result in terms of texture and flavour than the harder, dryer ones.
The other ingredients you’ll need are as follows.
- Rolled or porridge oats. I prefer the larger rolled rather than flakier porridge oats as they give more of a satisfying chew.
- Light brown soft sugar. Gives a hint of caramel flavour but can be replaced with white caster sugar if that’s what you have.
- Self-raising flour. Gives a little lift to the bake. Can be replaced with plain/all-purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder sifted together.
- Peanuts. I like roasted and salted but you could swap in raw, or any other type of crunchy nut.
- Coconut shavings. I like the extra chewiness these bring, but you can swap in desiccated coconut if necessary.
- Pumpkin seeds. Toasting them first in a dry pan adds flavour as well as crispy texture.
- Salt. Just a pinch to round out the flavours.
- Butter. For flavour as well as binding the mix.
- Egg. One medium or large, beaten.
- Vanilla extract. For subtle background flavour but can be omitted if you don’t have it.
OPTIONAL TOPPING
As mentioned, I’ve added a topping, but this is entirely optional. If you do want it, you’ll need dark and/or milk chocolate (I like a 50:50 mix) plus a few extra teaspoons of the nuts and seeds, finely chopped.
Rather than opening another bag of dried apricots, I just reserve 3 which is roughly 25 grams.
HOW TO MAKE APRICOT, NUT & SEED OAT SLICE
There’s next to no technique required for this bake. It really is just a case of mixing everything together. So gather, weigh and prepare all your ingredients first.
- Roughly chop the dried apricots, the peanuts, and the toasted pumpkin seeds. Remember to reserve some of the apricot if you’re making the optional topping.
- Preheat your oven to the temperature shown in the recipe card.
- Line your baking tin with paper, melt the butter and brush a little of it all over the paper.
MIX & BAKE
Take a large mixing bowl and put in all the DRY ingredients. That’s the oats, chopped apricots, sugar, flour, chopped peanuts and pumpkin seeds, coconut, and salt. Give it a good stir.
Now add the vanilla extract to the remaining melted butter and stir it all into the dry mixture. Make sure everything is thoroughly combined; you shouldn’t see any dry bits of flour or oats. Finally, mix in the beaten egg.
Transfer the mixture to your lined and buttered tin. Spread it evenly, not forgetting the corners, gently pressing down with the back of a spoon until smooth. Into the oven, and the slice should take around 25 minutes to set and become golden.
When it’s done, the edges should be very slightly pulling away from the sides of the tin. If in doubt, switch off the oven but leave the bake in for 2 – 3 minutes more.
COOLING & ADDING THE TOPPING
While the bake is still hot and in its tin, take a knife and mark into 8 rectangles or 16 squares. Cutting now instead of when it’s cold means the pieces shouldn’t crumble later.
Leave in the tin for 10 minutes to set, then lift out using the sides of the baking paper as ‘handles’. Transfer the whole thing to a cooling rack and leave until cold before peeling away the paper.
If you’re making the topping, I’ve given instructions in the recipe card for melting the chocolate in a microwave and on top of the stove. When it’s all melted and smooth, drizzle the chocolate over the slice then, while it’s still wet, sprinkle over the chopped apricot, peanuts, pumpkin seed and coconut. If there’s chocolate left over, you can add another drizzle if you like.
SERVING & STORING
Although you marked out individual portions after you took the Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice out of the oven, you’ll probably still need to cut again all the way down before you can separate them. If you’ve added the chocolate topping, this should be done when the chocolate has set. I put it in the fridge for a few minutes to speed this up.
Stored in an airtight container, the slices or squares should be fine for at least a week. Although you don’t have to store them in the fridge unless the weather’s warm and you added the chocolate topping, I tend to keep in the fridge anyway. You can wait until they come back to room temperature, but I confess I am usually too impatient!
Containing largely store cupboard and everyday ingredients, and needing very little hands-on time or baking experience, I think Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice is a great recipe to have in your repertoire. Even without the additional topping, it makes a great sweet treat with a cuppa, in packed lunches or as a dessert.
If you’ve made this recipe, please do leave a comment and star rating.
Apricot, Nut & Seed Oat Slice
With nutritious oats, fruity dried apricots plus chewy coconut, crunchy peanuts and toasted pumpkin seeds, you make this lovely, sweet treat with an all-in-one method similar to flapjacks. But it's lighter and less sticky thanks to an egg and a little flour to lighten.
Cut into bars or squares once cold, eat just as it is or with an optional drizzle of melted chocolate plus more apricot, nuts, and seeds.
Please read the accompanying blog post before starting, and use metric measurements and digital scales as these were used to test the recipe.
Ingredients
- 150 g butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 med-large egg (beaten)
Dry ingredients
- 200 g dried apricots (roughly chopped: if liked, set aside 25 g finely chopped for decoration)
- 180 g rolled or porridge oats
- 150 g light brown soft sugar (can be replaced with white caster sugar)
- 100 g self-raising flour (or plain/all-purpose flour + 1 tsp baking powder sifted together)
- 50 g peanuts, roasted and salted, or raw (roughly chopped: rinse and pat dry if using very salty roasted peanuts)
- 35 g coconut shavings (or desiccated coconut)
- 35 g pumpkin seeds (optional: toast in a dry pan first) (roughly chopped)
- 1 pinch salt (optional)
For the topping (optional: can be left plain)
- 50 g dark or milk chocolate (or 25 g of each)
- 25 g finely chopped apricots (set aside from the 200g in the dry ingredients above)
- finely chopped roasted peanuts
- finely chopped pumpkin seeds
- finely chopped coconut shavings (or a little desiccated coconut)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180°C /160°C Fan /Gas 4 / 350°F with a shelf in the middle position.
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Take a baking tin with an approximately 20cm square base and line it with baking paper so it comes above the sides of the tin: this will make the slice easier to remove later.
Melt the butter and use some of it to grease the paper using a pastry brush.
Set aside the rest of the butter.
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Put ALL the ingredients listed under 'Dry ingredients' into a mixing bowl and stir together.
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Add the vanilla extract to the remaining melted butter, tip into the mixing bowl, and stir well to combine with no dry flour or oats visible.
Add the beaten egg and stir again until everything is thoroughly mixed.
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Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread it evenly, ensuring it goes right into the corners, and smooth the top.
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Put in the preheated oven and bake for approx. 23 - 25 minutes or until set, golden brown, and the edges slightly pulling away from the sides of the tin.
Tip: if in doubt, turn off the oven and leave for a further 2 - 3 minutes.
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Remove the tin from the oven and use a sharp knife to cut into 8 bars (or 16 squares) while hot and still in the tin.
Set aside for 10 minutes then, using the baking paper as 'handles' lift out of the tin and leave on a cooling rack until cold.
Add the topping (optional)
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Peel away the sides of the baking paper.
Break the chocolate into pieces and put in a microwave-safe bowl.
Melt on full power in 10 second bursts, stirring between each one, until just a few small pieces of un-melted chocolate remain. Stir vigorously until completely smooth.
Alternative: on top of the stove. Melt in a heatproof bowl above a pan of gently simmering water. Stir constantly and make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.
Drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cold oat slices or squares.
While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle over your chosen finely chopped fruit, nuts, and seeds. Add another drizzle over the top if liked.
Set aside until the chocolate topping has set (put in the fridge to speed up if liked).
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Use a sharp knife to cut down all the way through the lines you made earlier and separate into bars or squares.
Should keep for at least a week in an airtight container. Can be stored in the fridge if liked and brought back to room temperature before eating.
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