Orange You Glad You Found This Cookbook?: Apricot Walnut Bars

I own so many cookbooks that they are stored all over the house. While we have a large built-in bookcase close to the kitchen where I keep the books I consult most frequently, the overflow populates our bedroom, guest bedroom, and home office. Unfortunately, when books end up in one of these less proximate locations, it's easy to forget about them. Recently I was looking for something in the home office and I came across my copy of Carole Walter's Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More. I also own her Great Cookies and Great Cakes cookbooks, but somehow Great Coffee Cakes just completely fell off my radar. I got the book two years ago, but inexplicably hadn't baked a single recipe from it. My belated first selection from the cookbook was the recipe for "Apricot Walnut Bars."

What drew me in to the recipe was the fact that the headnote says the bars get better with age. I love baked goods with staying power. Plus, all of the ingredients were basic items that I already had on hand. To make the bars, you beat butter with orange zest; add brown sugar; mix in eggs and orange liqueur (I used Cointreau); incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt); and fold in chopped dried apricots and walnuts. I spread the batter into a parchment-lined pan, sprinkled with top with coarse sugar, and put the pan in the oven to bake.

The finished bars didn't look that interesting until they were sliced to reveal an interior stuffed full of fruit and nuts. I liked these bars a lot -- especially the generous amount of apricots and walnuts -- but I thought that the texture was a touch dry. I was expecting a slightly fudgy blondie-like texture. Perhaps I over baked the bars a bit. The orange flavor was also quite prominent, so much so that I would call these Apricot-Orange-Walnut Bars. These were certainly good, but not a standout for me. But that's definitely not deterring me from baking more from this cookbook! 

Recipe: "Apricot Walnut Bars" from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More by Carole Walter.