Apricot Angel Brownies

I have been wanting to make this recipe for… let’s see… YEARS now.

I’m serious… it’s been in my “Recipes to Try” basket since probably highschool (I think I cut it out of a Quick Cooking magazine while babysitting.)  I’ve since gone to college, gotten married, moved twice, changed careers… WHY have I waited until now to make these?  No clue.  But one thing I know is I will NOT be waiting that long to make them again.

Now, make no mistake, these are definitely a brownie (not a blondie.)  A blondie is similar in taste and texture to a cookie.  A brownie is moist and dense and chocolately… and this particular brownie is no different.  It’s still made with a chocolate batter… the only difference is its white chocolate!

The resulting dessert is a surprisingly moist, rich bar…not at all like a cookie when you actually taste it!  The addition of dried fruit adds nice balance too.  (Of course, it helps that I’m a raisin and dried apricot addict.  My love for dried fruit is well documented… I even love (gasp!) PRUNES.  I get way too much fiber, to be honest.)

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If you like dried fruit and want to venture outside your old stand-by brownies… I HIGHLY suggest you try these out.  I couldn’t be more thrilled about the fact that my husband doesn’t care for coconut, because I have no intention of sharing these!

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To start, you’ll need the 4 oz. of white chocolate pictured above, as well as:

-1/2 C. brown sugar

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-7 tablespoons butter, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla…

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-1 C. chopped dried apricots and/or golden raisins… (that’s one cup total, not one cup of each.)

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-1/4 C. sliced almonds and 1/4 C. sweetened, flaked coconut…

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-and lastly 3/4 C. flour (this is soft white wheat), 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. baking powder.

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Now for the preliminaries…

-grease a 9×9 square baking dish,

-pre-heat your oven to 350,

-aaaaand… lightly beat your two eggs.

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Also, let your almonds toast in a dry skillet (under close watch) for about 5 minutes on medium heat.  You’ll smell them when they’re ready.  Just keep shaking the pan around in the meantime.

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Ok, now that the preliminaries are outta the way… let’s get these babies baked.  Its super easy.

Just melt the white chocolate and the butter together in a small saucepan.

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And when they’ve melted, take them immediately off the heat and add in the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

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It mixes up surprisingly dark… but lightens back up later with the addition of the flour.

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Now, separately combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and just pour in the butter/sugar/white chocolate mixture.  Its very syrupy and sticky so have a rubber spatula at the ready!

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Simple as that!  And it’s looking delicious already.  That white chocolate is the underlying killer-ingredient.  It makes ALL the difference.

Now grab a small bowl and combine the coconut, dried fruit, and toasted almonds.

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Stir about half of the mixture right into the brownie batter like so…

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(And reserve the rest for the topping.)

Then just pour the batter into a square baking dish!

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Sprinkle the remaining fruit, nuts, and coconut evenly over the brownies…

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and bake at 350 for about 22 minutes!

(Honestly, compared with cooking-posts, this baking stuff is a cinch!  I’ll never understand how people say they can’t bake.  I guess they must be referring to bread or creme brulee or French popovers or something.  I can see why that would be challenging.  But not this, my friends!  This is just mix, pour, bake.  So nice.)

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A glass of milk or cup of coffee is the perfect compliment!

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And I didn’t mean to… but I kinda ate both of these.

Can we just call it my dinner?

SURE… if where you come from they call a thousand calorie sugar-bomb “dinner.”    Here in good ole’ Arkansas, we do that every now and again, especially around Christmastime.  I’m not all broken up about it in the slightest!  Besides… RAISINS are healthy.  So there.

(I actually have no idea of the calorie count of these.  To find that out you’d have to use this little contraption.  But come on… do you really want to know? Ignorance is definitely bliss in times like these.)

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YUM.

Make these and enjoy.  All by yourself if the situation warrants it.

With Love,

The Prune Lady