I inadvertently bought a second bag of soft dried plums. Although they do have a good shelf life they wont last forever. So I decided I needed to start using them as soon as possible.
That led me to making these Soft Dried Plum Bars or Squares. Now what I bought was dried plums. However I call them soft dried plums, since they are soft and fleshy. Prunes is a more common name in some places. However I find that prunes can be rather firmer and less fleshy. So, although I say in my video that you can use prunes I would suggest drained and dried prunes from a can, to ensure they are nice and soft.
The recipe is very simple indeed and doesn’t take much time to make. Simply chop, or mince, the plums and mix with some apricot jam. Then make a quick crumble mixture with flour, oats, sugar and spices with a little egg and butter. Put about 2/3 of the crumble mixture into a pan and compress well onto the base. Cover that with the fruity plum mixture and then crumble the remaining mixture over the top. Bake the bars for 22 minutes. Cool them in the pan first. Then remove and divide into portions.
That really is all there is to it. Very easy and quick.
They can be served as squares or bars for snacking. But another option is to cut larger portions and serve as a dessert, with custard, cream or ice-cream.
My Bake
My bars baked very well. It took exactly 22 minutes. Then I allowed them to cool in the pan. That helped the bars to firm up. Then I transferred them to a wire rack. I divided them into 16 squares.
They looked very good with a lovely thick layer of the fruity filling. The taste was wonderful too. Not only fruity, but with the wonderful crunch of the crumbly base and top. The combination was simply a joy to eat.
Another excellent recipe is Paradise Slices – Bars.Soft Dried Plum Bars or Squares – Video
Soft Dried Plum Bars or Squares
Course: Biscuits, Cookies, Desserts, Pies, TartsDifficulty: Easy16
servings15
minutes22
minutesIngredients
250g(1 /2 cups when chopped) soft dried plums or prunes finely chopped or minced
60g(2 tbsp)apricot jam
180g(2 cups) rolled oats, or quick oats
125g(1/2 cup + 2 tbsp, packed) light brown sugar
65g(1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour
21g(1 1/2 tbsp) very soft, or melted, unsalted butter
1 medium egg(large in USA)
2g(1/2 tsp) baking soda
3g(1/2 tsp) salt
1.5g(1/2 tsp) ground cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
- Grease and line an 8 inch/20cm square cake pan.
- Thoroughly mix the apricot jam into the soft dried plums and set aside.
- Mix the baking soda, salt and cinnamon into the flour.
- Beat the egg and butter together, into an homogenous mixture.
- Place the oats into a large bowl.
- Add the sugar and the flour mixture and stir to combine well.
- Pour in the egg and butter mixture and stir around until the dry ingredients begin to clump together.
- Use your hands to continue mixing until the mixture is all well combined and crumbly.
- Take about 2/3 thirds(320g or 2 cups) of the mixture and pour it into the prepared pan.
- Spread that mixture evenly over the base and press down to make it firmly packed.
- Carefully spoon the plum mixture onto the base and gently spread it all over.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture onto the top and gently press down.
- Bake the bars in the oven for 22 minutes.
- Remove the bars from the oven and cool in the pan until everything has firmed up.
- Transfer the bars to a rack to cool completely and then cut into pieces of the desired size.(I cut mine into 4 strips and the 4 the other way to make 16).