Apricot Almond Shortbread Bar Cookies

One of our family’s best-loved traditions at Christmas is Christmas cookies. Hardly original, but then again, aren’t traditions the reason we love Christmas so much? I don’t know about your family, but mine would consider it treason to break any Christmas traditions. Gasp! Do something  different??! At this point it is a moral obligation to do certain things every holiday season, or risk disappointing everyone and hearing about it for years to come. However, it makes me glad that we have special things that we do as a family that give us warm memories for the years ahead. Ugly Christmas sweater contests, Christmas Eve sleepovers, and Christmas cookies all play an important part in making family memories. Life is often hard, so having treasured traditions like apricot almond shortbread bar cookies that bind us together and keep the family close is a wonderful thing.

And with that in mind, baking is the top priority at SomeTyme Place right now. Every year I bake several hundred cookies, and both freezers are stuffed full by the time I am done. It is important to make everyone’s favorite cookie which means there is a huge variety. There are upgraded magic layer cookie bars, candy cane brownies, tangy lemon bars, oatmeal jam bars, buckeyes, best ever sugar cookies, and much, much more. There is a lot of joy in making these and sharing them with others. One year I walked into our family Christmas at my in-laws, carrying my famously large cookie platter, and my adult nephew immediately says, “the best part of Christmas just arrived!” If that doesn’t warm an aunt’s heart and give her motivation to keep the tradition going then I don’t know what will.

Favorite Christmas Cookie

Today I am sharing the most-loved Christmas cookie of the bunch- Apricot Almond Shortbread Bar Cookies. Every year without fail, I make two large pans of this one, and by Christmas every crumb of these delicious bars is gone. These cookies cover all the important bases as they are moist, hearty, comforting, crumb topping-loaded, and fruity flavorful. I suspect that another reason they are so loved is because they aren’t chocolate. Chocolate is great, and we have a lot of that, but it is nice to have alternatives. Thankfully, I found this recipe from my Bon Appetit magazine years ago, and it is a staple in my recipe files. The recipe is also featured on Epicurious as well as a few other sites.

These cookies feature almond paste in them which is what makes them so darn delicious, especially when paired with apricot preserves. Other preserves will work in these, but apricot works the best here in my opinion. It gives the bars a tangy and tart fruitiness which pairs well with the almond shortbread. These freeze well, so save yourself stress and make them ahead of time. This recipe is my adapted version which is different from the original in several ways, but I’ll put the link to the original at the bottom.

Apricot almond Shortbread Bar Cookies

Adapted from Bon Appetit

2 cups of room temperature butter

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1/2 tsp. of salt

4 cups of flour

2 tsp. almond extract

1 18 oz jar of Smucker’s apricot preserves (or your favorite preserves)

1  7 or 8 oz. package of Solo almond paste (I find this near the pie filling section. DON’T get Solo almond pastry filling- not the same thing!)

Combine butter, sugar, salt, and almond extract. Add flour and combine until mixture becomes moist crumbs. Set aside approximately 2 cups of this mixture (I eyeball this). Take remaining mixture and press lightly into greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Warm preserves and spread on top of this. Take the 2 cups of mixture set aside and add almond paste until mixture is crumbly (if dough comes together while mixing just break it into crumbles). Sprinkle on top of preserves and press down lightly. Bake at 325 degrees until bars are lightly browned around edges and top is starting to brown (usually around 45 minutes). Let cool. Before bars get too set loosen the edges with a knife. These are easiest to cut and remove when nearly cooled completely.

Enjoy your apricot almond shortbread bars! Happy holidays everyone! Do you have a favorite Christmas cookie? Share in the comments below 🙂

www.bonappetit.com/recipe/apricot-orange-shortbread-bars