Easy Apricot Oat Bars

Company was coming for dinner and while I had planned an entree and salad, I hadn't figured out what to do for dessert. I had some chocolate ice  cream in the freezer and thought some homemade cookies would complement that nicely. But when it's 112 degrees outside I knew I didn't want to be baking all day so I needed something simple. 

I happened to have a package of sugar cookie mix in the cupboard, leftover from the holidays. I had no desire to roll and cut shapes and plain sugar cookies seemed too, well, plain. So I adapted the mix into a version of Apricot Oat Bars that I had made before from scratch. So here is my "semi-homemade" version. It was so easy!

Make the mix according to directions on the package but add 2/3 cup of quick rolled oats. Stir well. 

It should be a bit crumbly.

Pat into a  13 x 9 baking sheet reserving 1 cup of the dough.  I used my silpat liner to insure no sticking.

 Spread 1 jar of apricot preserves on top (about a 10 ounce jar). Other flavors of jam would work just as well - raspberry, cherry, peach...

Crumble the remaining dough on top and 

lightly press down. 

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until just barely browned. 

Cool completely before cutting into bars. 

I cut mine into 16 generous sized cookies, but you could easily cut to get 24. 

Aren't they pretty? They tasted just as good and from start to finish took less than 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

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