Apricot Spice Bars with Lemon Glaze

I have a large collection of county and state fair cookbooks, and this recipe came from an Indiana county fair book, 100 Blue Ribbon Cookies. The cookies are baked in a large jellyroll pan, 15x10x1, so you get a lot of thin, delicious bars with apricots and nuts plus a tart lemon glaze.

• Servings: 12-15
• Print

Bar cookies:

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
• ½ cup honey
• 3 eggs
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cloves or allspice
• 1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 15x10x1 jellyroll pan.

Cream together shortening, sugar and honey – beat in eggs.  Sift together dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture – stir well.  Fold in apricots and nuts.  Spread in greased 15x10x1 (jelly roll) pan.

Bake @ 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes until cookies are golden brown.  Cool in pan on wire rack for 10-15 minutes.

LEMON GLAZE

• ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 T lemon juice

Mix sugar and lemon juice together to make a glaze.

Brush warm cookies with lemon glaze.

Cut into squares and continue to cool on wire rack. 

In my recipe binder, I have a note:  First made June 10, 1995 to take to a picnic on Brookville Lake in Brookville, Indiana.  Everybody loved them.