MAKES 24 SQUARES
Ingredients
• 1½ cups almond flour
• 1¾ cups sliced almonds
• ⅔ cup palm sugar + 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil, cut into 12 pieces and softened
• 1 pound dried apricots
• ½ cup apricot jam (see Fruit Jam recipe, page 221)
• 1 cup of water
• ½ teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Coconut oil for greasing foil
Preparation
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 13×9 baking pan with a foil sling. Make foil sling by folding two long sheets of aluminum foil; the first sheet should be thirteen inches wide and the second sheet should be nine inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Grease with coconut oil.
2. Process the flour, 1¼ cups of the almonds, ⅓ cup of the palm sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt together in a food processor until combined (about 5 seconds). Add the coconut oil and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-sized pieces of coconut oil (about 20 pulses).
3. Reserve ½ cup of the flour mixture for the topping. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake the crust until fragrant and golden brown (about 15 minutes).
4. While the crust bakes, mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of palm sugar and the reserved flour mixture together in a small bowl and pinch the mixture between your fingers into hazelnut-sized clumps of streusel.
5. Pulse the apricots, one cup of water, and jam together in a food processor until the apricots are roughly quarter-inch chunks (5 to 7 pulses). Cook the apricot mixture in a large nonstick skillet over high heat until it is thickened and jam-like (10 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
6. Spread the cooked apricot mixture evenly over the hot crust and sprinkle with the streusel topping and remaining ½ cup of almonds. Bake until almonds are golden brown (about 20 minutes), rotating the pan halfway through baking.
7. Place the pan atop a wire rack and let the bars cool completely (about two hours). Remove the bars from the pan using the foil, cut into squares, and serve.
