apricot coconut squares

Miss G. and I did a little messing about in the kitchen yesterday afternoon and came up with these gorgeous apricot coconut squares.

The flavours were definitely inspired by last weeks apricot coconut breakfast cookies.  Grace enjoyed the breakfast cookies so much I just had to find another recipe to weave apricot and coconut into and these bars were just the place.

These little darlings are chock full of natural goodness and are a simple mix of bananas, oats, dates, natural peanut butter, maple syrup, vanilla bean paste and of course apricot and coconut.  Pictured below are flaked almonds, however I decided to leave them out of the batter and replace instead with extra shredded coconut.  Doing so created a much more friendly baby led weaning texture and these squares are suitable for bubs approximately 8 months and older.  Younger bubs may find the dried apricot a little too challenging.

Thanks to the food processor the apricot and coconut studded batter comes together in just moments and can be baking away to golden perfection in less than 10 minutes.  Grace really enjoyed making these bars and made sure she was in charge of measuring the ingredients, popping them into the processor and of course turning the processor on (her favourite thing to do in the kitchen).  She also managed to flatten the dough into our prepared baking tin thanks to her pint sized rubber spatula.

Once the squares had baked to golden perfection and cooled we stirred together a little melted white chocolate with greek yoghurt and vanilla bean paste to create a luscious drizzle to adorn the cooled squares with.

Along with a few fresh strawberries these apricot coconut squares make the perfect baby led weaning morning or afternoon tea snack.

To make your own batch of apricot coconut squares simply…

Begin by preheating your oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F) and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with baking paper.

Place the oats, coconut, peanut butter, bananas, cinnamon, maple syrup, baking powder and olive oil into the large bowl of a food processor and blitz until smooth.

Add the dates and blitz until smooth and well combined.

Fold through the apricots and extra shredded coconut.

Place the mixture into a square (20cm x 20cm) tin lined with baking paper and smooth with a spatula.

Pop into the oven to bake for 15 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so in the tin before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate into a microwave safe container and cook on high in 15 second intervals (mixing in between) until melted and smooth.

Add the vanilla bean paste and yoghurt and mix to combine.  If your mixture is lumpy simply pop into the microwave for another 15 seconds and stir until smooth.

Drizzle the white choc yoghurt topping over the cooled slice.

Cut into 12 squares and serve alongside a little fresh fruit for a gorgeous baby led weaning snack.

apricot coconut squares

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups (95 grams) old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup (125 grams) natural peanut butter

1/4 cup macadamia nut oil (or lightly flavoured olive oil)

1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

1 1/2 cups (120 grams) shredded coconut

1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 ripe bananas

1 cup (170 grams) dates

1 cup (190 grams) dried apricots, finely chopped

Choc yoghurt topping:

1/2 cup (90 grams) white chocolate

1 tablespoon greek yoghurt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F) and line a 20cm x 20xm baking dish with baking paper.  Place the oats, peanut butter, macadamia oil, vanilla, 1 cup of coconut, cinnamon, baking powder and bananas into the large bowl of a food processor and blitz until smooth, approximately 1 minute.  Add the dates and process for another minute.  Use a spatula to fold through the apricot and extra 1/2 cup of coconut.  Evenly spread the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes or so before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Choc yoghurt topping:

Place the chocolate into a microwave safe container and cook on high in 15 second intervals (stirring in between) until melted and smooth.  Add the vanilla bean paste and yoghurt and mix to combine.  If your mixture is lumpy simply pop into the microwave for another 15 seconds and stir until smooth.  Drizzle the white choc yoghurt topping over the cooled slice.  Cut into bars and enjoy.

 

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