How does short crumbly almond shortbread, topped with delicious fruity apricot 'jam', and finished with amaretti biscuits and flaked almonds sound?
Well, for me it sounds sheer bliss, and given how well these pimped up slices of shortbread have been received amongst family and neighbours they clearly feel the same too!
This easy traybake recipe (and yes, it is easy with no rolling out, creaming or folding) is all about texture. Starting from the bottom up is a layer of super short almond shortbread which almost melts in the mouth. Then comes the soft fruity taste of apricots, their beautiful colour peeking temptingly through the crumble of amaretti biscuits and flaked almonds.
How I wish I had another slice right now!
In fact, as it takes less than an hour to make, including the bake time, you can find me in the kitchen whilst I rustle up another batch just in time for an afternoon treat!
So, here's how to make Apricot & Almond Shortbread Slices.
📖 Recipe
Apricot and Almond Shortbread slices
Ingredients
For the Shortbread Base
- 85 g caster sugar
- 270 g plain flour
- 190 g butter unsalted, chilled & diced, + a little extra for greasing
- 90 g ground almonds
For the Apricot Layer
- 300 g soft dried apricots pitted
- 14 tablespoon cold water
- ½ lemon juice of
For the Crumble Layer
- 130 g soft amaretti biscuits
- 40 g flaked almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ / Fan 160℃ / Gas 4.
- Prepare the baking tin. Grease the tin with a little butter. Fully line the tin with greaseproof paper, ensuring there is excess paper beyond the edge of the tin to aid the removal of the shortbread once cooked.
- Make the shortbread dough. Place the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Use your hand to mix together. Add the chilled diced butter. Rub the cubed butter into the flour and sugar between your thumb and finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the ground almonds and gently mix until combined. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin. Press the mixture into the tin to compact it, aiming to get a nice even layer.
- Bake. Place the shortbread into the oven and bake for 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the apricots. Chop the apricots, checking to ensure that all the stones have been removed. Place into a pan with the water and lemon juice.
- Cook the apricots. Place the pan onto the hob over a low heat. Cook until the apricots have absorbed the liquid, whilst stirring the mixture all of the time. Blend the apricots to create a paste. It’s personal preference whether you make this ultra smooth or slightly chunky.
- Prepare the Amaretti Biscuits. Break the amaretti biscuits into large breadcrumbs.
- Top the shortbread with the apricot mixture & crumble topping. After the 12 minutes of baking remove the shortbread from the oven. Spoon the apricot mixture over the shortbread. Use the back of a spoon or spatula to gently spread this out, trying not to disturb the shortbread base beneath. Scatter over the crumbled amaretti biscuits. Slightly push the biscuits into the apricot mixture. Scatter over the flaked almonds.
- Finish the bake. Return the shortbread back to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes.
- Cool and slice. Remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack. Once completely cooled use the overhanging greaseproof paper to lift the shortbread form the tray. Use a long sharp knife to slice the shortbread into squares. We got 15 pieces from our bake.
Notes
- 1 x swiss roll tin measuring 29cm x 18cm, or equivelent.
- Blender, stick blender or food processor.
Nutrition
Corina Blum says
These look delicious! I'm a huge fan of apricots and almonds and I love eating anything with layers, especially when one of them is a crumble topping. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Eb Gargano says
Oh wow - these look and sound incredible. I must admit, I'm rather envious of your family and neighbours - you clearly keep them well fed with all manner of amazing treats...almost worth moving up to Yorkshire for! Eb x
Monika Dabrowski says
Oh,how delicious! and I love the biscuits on top! thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare!
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Gorgeous combination of flavours and textures and so summery too! I love how quick these are to put together as when you fancy a little treat time is usually of essence lol. Fab bake! Thank you for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 🙂 x
Jenny-Apply to Face blog says
What a clever and beautiful recipe.Love the colours and even though I'm not an almond fan.I want to eat the whole lot to myselfThey sound incredible !xx
Amanda | Icing Insight says
Wow they look amazing! Can't believe they're ready so fast too, under an hour, incredible!
Sylvie says
That looks delicious! I love apricots and almond together
Cat | Curly's Cooking says
Apricots and almonds are destined to be together. These look so delicious x