Gluten Free Apricot Crumble Bars
These gluten free apricot crumble bars have a simple shortbread crust layered with fresh summer apricots and topped with an easy crumble!
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pound ripe fresh apricots rinsed and dried
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F.
- Line a 9-inch square pan with crisscrossed sheets of unbleached parchment paper, each overhanging two opposite sides. Set the pan aside.
- In a large bowl, place 2 cups (280 g) of the flour, the xanthan gum, granulated sugar and salt, and whisk to combine well.
- Add the butter, and mix to combine. The mixture should come together as a soft dough.
- Remove about 3/4 cup (150 g) of the dough and transfer it to a medium-size bowl.
- To the reserved dough, add the brown sugar, cinnamon and the remaining 1/4 cup (35 g) flour, and mix to combine. This is the crumble topping.
- Place the bowl of crumble topping in the freezer to chill.
- Scrape the remaining soft shortbread dough into the prepared square pan, and press into an even layer with well-floured hands.
- Set the pan aside.
- Slice each of the apricots in half, then remove and discard the pits.
- With a serrated knife, carefully slice the apricots into wedges, each about 1/4-inch wide, taking care not to bruise or crush the fruit.
- Lay the apricot slices on top of the shortbread in 4 parallel rows, from one side of the pan to the other, overlapping them slightly in each row.
- Remove the crumble topping from the freezer, break it up into irregular clumps with a fork, and sprinkle it in an even layer on top of the fruit.
- Press down on the topping gently but evenly to help the crumble topping adhere to the fruit.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is light brown in color and seems set.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Carefully remove the bars from the pan by the overhung parchment paper.
- With a very sharp knife, slice into 16 equal pieces.
- The top half of the bars will be moist and will not set up rock hard because of the moisture in the fruit, but will hold together when handled carefully.