Our house has always been a fruit-lover's home. Mom served us desserts loaded with berries, tucked apples into our brown bag lunches, and kept a large bowl of grapes, bananas, peaches, and whatever else was in season on our kitchen table (to the envy of the neighborhood kids) that we could eat whenever we liked. At the age of 90, Mom had to leave her apartment after she broke her hip and went to live in a rehabilitation facility. Her face always lit up when we brought her Smacks, our family's name for her apricot squares, treats she made countless times for us when we were young. This was her favorite sweet and we would bring them as often as we could, along with juicy wedges of oranges. It gave us so much pleasure to see her eating them and every time we make them now, we reminisce about her love of baking and feeding her family.
See below for the recipe and look for my cookbook to take advantage of the 100 additional recipes that have been beloved by so many families.
FILLING
½ pound dried apricots
1/4 cup sugar
¾ cup water
CRUMB MIXTURE
1¼ cup flour
1¼ cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup melted butter
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. For filling, pulse the apricots in a food processor to get pea sized or slightly larger apricot pieces. (A meat grinder can also be used to chop the apricots.)
3. Combine the apricots, sugar, and water in a saucepan and cook until mixture is thick. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. For crumb mixture, in a bowl combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, and baking soda. Add melted butter and crumble by hand until mixed. Save half a cup of crumbs for topping.
5. In an 8 inch by 8 inch buttered pan, pat the crumbs firmly in place. Spoon apricot filling evenly over the crumb layer, keeping the filling away from the edges of the baking pan. Top with remaining crumbs. Bake about 30 minutes at 350°, then let cool thoroughly and cut into squares.
ENJOY!