2 Pounds Dried Unsweetened Apricots, regular or unsulfured 2 1/2 Cups Apple Juice or Orange Juice
Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour, regular or albino 3 1/2 Cups Oats, old fashioned 1 Pound Walnuts 2 tsp. Baking Soda 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon 1/2 tsp. Salt
Wet Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Maple Syrup 1/2 Cup Olive Oil 1/2 Cup Apricot Poaching Liquid or Juice
Heat Oven To 350°
Place apricots and juice into a pan.
Cover pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
Boil for half a minute; remove pan from the heat.
Leave pan covered, off of the heat, for ten minutes.
Remove the cover; let apricots cool for another ten minutes.
While apricots are poaching and cooling you can make the granola crust.
Measure and place all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
Toss ingredients together by hand.
Place half of the dry ingredients into a food processor.
Run the machine for about ten seconds.
Remove ingredients from processor and repeat with remaining dry ingredients.
Mix both batches of processed ingredients together in the mixing bowl.
Strain the warm juice from the apricot pan.
This liquid is called the apricot poaching liquid.
Measure and add all wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
2/3 Cup Maple Syrup 1/2 Cup Olive Oil 1/2 Cup Apricot Poaching Liquid, or a little more.
Use your hands and fingers to toss and mix all the ingredients together.
The mixture should be moist and crumbly, not wet and heavy.
Use your hand to divide the mixture into a 60% to 40% measure.
60% will form the bottom crust and the 40% will be for the top crust.
You need a standard half size baking sheet pan.
Scatter 60% of the granola mixture over the pan.
Press the granola mixture into the pan to form the bottom crust.
Press firmly to form a solid crust.
You may need to moisten your hands a bit to prevent sticking.
Try to make sure that the crust is of an even thickness throughout.
Place the cooked apricots into the processor.
Run the machine for a few seconds.
Remove the top and mix the apricots a few times.
Add a few tablespoons of the apricot poaching liquid, if needed, to help puree the apricots.
Turning the apricots into a thick puree will take a couple of minutes and you will need to stop and mix the apricots a few more times.
Try to keep the apricot puree kind of thick and only add the poaching liquid a little at a time.
Using a large spoon, distribute a few ounces of the apricot puree evenly across the bottom crust.
This is not an exact procedure and can be done by eye.
Note: Always process your dry ingredients first in the food processor and then the fruit puree.
This way you only need to clean the bowl once.
Use a small spatula to gently spread the puree evenly across the bottom crust.
Try not to pull up the crust by spreading the puree too quickly.
Scatter the remaining granola mixture over the apricot puree.
Press the mix firmly into the apricots to form the top crust.
Place pan in hot oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and let cool at least one hour before cutting.
Can also be cooled, wrapped and placed into the fridge and easily cut the next day.
Note: Sometimes I like to use these dried unsulfered Turkish apricots because they are super sweet and sulfites make some people cough and sneeze, or worse.
You can also use any other unsweetened dried fruit that you like such as dried pineapple, figs, raisins, cherries, berries or any combination that you like.
Just make sure that the uncooked weight is 2 pounds.
