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    Home » Cakes and Desserts » Biscuits and cookies

    We use cookies · See Privacy Policy in footer · Post contains affiliate links · Updated: Jul 15, 2021

    Apricot Oat Bars

    A quick and easy fruity oat bar snack for lunch boxes for the whole family. Apricot Oat Bars are ideal for taking on walks or a journey.

    Jump to Recipe
    Stack of apricot oat bars with dried apricots in the background
    Apricot Oat Bars

    Recently I found myself buying packs of cereal bars recently to take on walks. They were very tasty, but reading the ingredients list made me a bit less keen. Also I wanted something a bit softer than the bars I was buying. This fruit oat bar is a bit more cake-y and doesn't crumble easily.

    Key ingredients in Apricot Oat Bars

    Ingredients in Apricot Oat Bars
    Apricot Oat Bars ingredients

    Dried apricots

    I find the semi-rehydrated apricots work best in this recipe. They're often sold as soft apricots. Traditional dried apricots are still fine, although you probably want to cut them up a bit smaller as they are chewier (especially if, like mine sometimes, they've been hanging around a bit).

    Porridge oats

    You need rolled oats for this recipe - not jumbo oats, which don't stick together so well and definitely not instant oats. If you have some oats left, there are plenty of other delicious cakes and bars to make, e.g. Flapjacks, Mocha Squares, Oaties, Cherry Flapjacks.

    Salt

    Don't omit the salt! Oats don't have a lot of flavour and a pinch of salt makes all the difference to this recipe, enhancing the flavours not making it taste salty.

    Powdered ginger

    A pinch of dried ginger powder adds flavour without being 'gingery' - you shouldn't be able to detect what spice it is. We're not making Ginger Biscuits here just adding subtle flavour.

    Ring the changes

    • Use maple syrup instead of golden syrup for a slightly different, less sweet flavour
    • Substitute 25g chopped walnuts or almonds for some of the apricots for a fruit and nut bar
    • Use half wholemeal flour instead of white. You will need to add ½ level teaspoon baking powder and a little extra liquid, such as milk.

    Secrets of success

    Mixed ingredients in the saucepan for Apricot Oat Bars
    Apricot Oat Bars mixture in saucepan

    This recipe is one of the simplest I've made. The secret here is to have the tin and the ingredients ready before you begin cooking

    1. The tin lined with baking parchment
    2. The butter and golden syrup weighed into a large saucepan
    3. The dry ingredients (flour, sugar, oats, salt, ginger) mixed in a bowl
    4. The apricots cut up and ready to go
    5. The beaten egg in a small bowl.

    All you do is gently melt the butter and syrup, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients before pouring into the tin and cooking.

    Baking tin of apricot oat bar mixture before cooking
    Raw mixture

    Top tips

    Two tips for oat bars:

    1. Use scissors to cut up the dried apricots
    2. To weigh golden syrup: Weigh the tin and zero the scales. Spoon out the syrup until the scales show the correct amount has been removed. Use the same spoon for mixing the ingredients so that you use all the syrup.

    Make Apricot Oat Bars gluten-free

    You need to pay attention to three ingredients to make this recipe gluten-free:

    1. Use gluten-free self-raising flour
    2. Check the porridge oats packet label to make sure that the oats were not packed in a factory also packing gluten products. (Most supermarket oats are not suitable for coeliacs).

    How long will they keep?

    The oat bars will keep for at least a week in a plastic box in the fridge.

    Can I freeze oat bars?

    Oat bars freeze well but are sometimes a bit crumblier when defrosted.

    What equipment do you need?

    • You will need a 20cm (8-inch) square traybake tin or shallow cake tin. I like one with a removable base to make life easy.
    • I also line my tin, either with a piece of re-usable magic liner cut to fit the tin or a baking parchment square.

    If you like this...

    ...Why don't you try:

    Flapjack

    The ultimate flapjack, soft and chewy or crunchy - your choice - with a lovely buttery taste, and ready in half an hour. Perfect teatime treat and great for lunchboxes.
    Oaties on a wire cooling rack

    Oaties

    Oaties are semi-sweet oat biscuits that can be made soft or crunchy.
    Mocha Squares have a chocolate oat base with coffee icing.

    Mocha Squares

    Mocha Squares have a chocolate oat base with coffee icing.

    Stockists

    20cm square baking tin

    20cm square traybake tin

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    Baking parchment squares

    Baking parchment square

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    Magic liner cut to fit baking tins and pans

    Magic liner

    Buy Now →

    Pin for later

    Hover over any picture on the page and hit the Save button to pin the image to one of your Pinterest boards.

    Stack of apricot oat bars with dried apricots in the background
    Apricot Oat Bars
    Stack of apricot oat bars on a wire rack with dried apricots in the background
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Apricot Oat Bars

    A quick and easy fruity oat bar snack for the whole family. Softer than most oat bars and not too crumbly.
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time25 mins
    Total Time35 mins
    Course: Snack, Teatime
    Cuisine: British
    Keyword: apricot oat bars, oat bars
    Servings: 15 bars
    Author: [email protected] Cooks

    Ingredients

    • 100 g dried apricots, semi-soft are best
    • 1 large egg
    • 120 g porridge oats
    • 80 g self-raising flour
    • 100 g light soft brown sugar
    • Pinch salt
    • Pinch dried ginger powder
    • 100 g butter
    • 50 g golden syrup, or maple syrup
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    20cm square traybake tin
    Square traybake tin 20cm/8-inch
    Baking parchment square

    Instructions

    Preparation:

    • Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ gas mark 4/ 350°F
    • Line a 20cm square tin with a baking parchment square or Magic Liner
    • Cut the apricots into raisin- size pieces - easiest with scissors
    • Beat the egg lightly with a fork

    For the Oat Bars:

    • Mix the dry ingredients
      120 g porridge oats, 80 g self-raising flour, 100 g light soft brown sugar, Pinch salt, Pinch dried ginger powder, 100 g dried apricots,
    • In a large saucepan on a low heat, melt the butter and golden syrup. Take off the heat and stir in the dry ingredients with the beaten egg and mix together well
      100 g butter, 50 g golden syrup,, 1 large egg
    • Pour into the tin and spread out evenly
    • Cook for 20-25 minutes until golden
    • Cool in the tin, then tip out onto a board and cut into bars - 3 x 5, making 15 bars

    Notes

    Everyday Cooks Tip:

    To weigh golden syrup: weigh the tin; zero the scales: using your mixing spoon, take syrup out of the tin until the weight is -50g. 

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Fiona says

      April 27, 2022 at 10:44 am

      5 stars
      I've made many of your recipes, brownies, flapjacks, mocha squares, refrigerator cake, but I have to say, this is the best..slightly crumbly, not too sweet, fruity deliciousness. Thank you

      Reply
      • Susie Collings says

        May 07, 2022 at 5:26 pm

        Hi Fiona, Glad you like the recipes - mostly from my mum's old recipe book 🙂

        Reply
    2. Jenny says

      August 08, 2021 at 7:58 pm

      5 stars
      Have made this twice and doubled the quantities second time and included raisins and less sugar for pre-diabetic friend. Really nice snack which will make regularly.

      Reply
      • Susie Collings says

        August 09, 2021 at 7:49 pm

        Hi Jenny, So pleased you like the bars. It's easy to add whatever fruit or nuts you like. 🙂

        Reply
    3. Beryl Barleycorn says

      July 17, 2021 at 8:32 am

      Sounds very healthy and one of my favourite fruits.
      Can’t wait to make them. Looking forward to further recipes.

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Susie. Mostly I love cooking and baking, but combining work and home life often leaves me feeling that providing healthy, tasty food for my family is a chore. On those days I am decidedly an Everyday Cook...

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