300g(2 cups) stoned, quartered apricots (measured after stones removed)
1tbspcornflour(cornstarch)
1tbspgranulated sugar
100ml(scant 1/2 cup) water
For the dough:
130g(1 cup) hazelnuts
50g(1/2 cup) rolled oats (quick cooking oats)
100g(3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) wholemeal (whole wheat) pastry flour or plain (all purpose) flour
100ggranulated sugar
130g(9 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter*, cubed
1/4tspsalt
1medium egg yolk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF) / 160oC (320oF) fan. Line a 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8-inch) square or 17 x 21 cm (7 x 9-inch) rectangular tin with a piece of baking paper.
Make the apricot centre
Place the apricots into a small pot with the cornflour (cornstarch), sugar and water. Place over a medium low heat and stir together. Let the mixture come to a bubble then cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to low and leave to cook for 20 minutes to soften the apricots, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove from the heat then set aside, lid off, to cool.
Make the dough:
Place 100g (3/4 cup) of the hazelnuts into a food processor along with the oats. Blitz until quite a fine mealy texture is achieved. Add the flour, sugar, butter, salt and egg yolk. Pulse until the mixture starts to come together into a moist but crumbly dough.
Tip 2/3 of the dough into the prepared pan. Press down so it covers the whole base of the tin to make the base layer. Top with the cooled, cooked apricots in an even layer. Crumble the rest of the dough over the top of the top.
Roughly chop the remaining hazelnuts (30g / 1/4 cup) and scatter over the bars. Bake for 25-30 minutes until starting to brown on top. Leave to cool and then slice into 12 bars.
Notes
To make these vegan: use vegan butter instead of unsalted butter. Use 1 tbsp vegan yoghurt in place of the egg yolk