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Have you seen apriums at your farmers market and wondered what you could make from them? These Aprium Oat Bars are a delicious snack that features this stone fruit hybrid that you’re likely to only see at the farmers market.
Aprium Oat Bars are a perfect, packable treat!
Recently, I went on a fishing excursion in Alaska with my husband and some of our friends. Since the boats leave the harbor at some crazy early hour (like, 5am at the latest), and we needed to bring all our meals with us, I needed some packable snacks to energize the group. And that’s where these oat bars come in!
They’re easy to make, even for non-bakers like myself, and they hold up nicely for road trips (or boat trips, in our case). Plus, they’ve got some balanced sweetness from the apriums, which are such a nice treat in the summer.
Also some fun news: I caught my first fish ever! It was a 28 inch halibut; small for a halibut, but fairly large for a fish in general. At the end of the day, we caught 54 pounds of fish between us. It was definitely the Aprium Oat Bars that led us to our big catches of the day.
Farmers Market Ingredients and Substitutions
Apriums
Apriums are one of the many stone fruit hybrids that are popular at farmers markets. Similar to pluots and plumcots, apriums are a blend of apricots and plums. Genetically, they’re about 75% apricot and 25% plum, which results in a slightly fuzzy skin and a reddish orange skin. In contrast, pluots are about 75% plum and 25% apricot; plumcots are a 50/50 mix.
Taste-wise, they have the sweetness of apricots, with a slight tartness coming from the plum side of things. The tart flavor is typically concentrated only at the skin.
Other than farmers markets, the best places I’ve seen to find apriums and other hybrid stone fruits is at health food stores, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s.
I know apriums sound exotic and you might not have them in your area. You don’t have to use them in this recipe! Any other stone fruit will work for these bite sized treats. And you shouldn’t even feel limited to stone fruit; raspberries, blueberries, and cherries will all work as well.
Rolled Oats
It’s important to use rolled oats specifically to make these oat bars. Instant oats will cook too quickly, become mushy, and won’t set up nicely. And steel cut oats won’t cook up correctly either.
Tips and Tricks
I used a muffin pan to make individual sized Aprium Oat Bars; this made it especially easy to portion everything out. And I didn’t have to worry about cutting the bars after they set up. But you can make them in an 8×8 pan instead, then cut them into individual squares. Or rectangles. The possibilities are endless!
This recipe can be doubled easily, but use a 9×13 pan to bake them up, or two muffin pans.
If you choose to forego the paper liners, be sure to grease the pan liberally. The jam is very sticky, and the grease will help you release the bars from the pan.
Serving Suggestions
These Aprium Oat Bars are perfect as a light breakfast or snack, especially with a good cup of tea. My favorite tea pairing is the Teapigs Earl Grey tea, which has a delicious, strong bergamot flavor that complements the sweetness of the apriums. If you like coffee, that would work too.
But what about the leftovers?
Leftover Aprium Oat Bars can be stored in an airtight container on the counter or in the pantry for up to 1 week. At that point, they’ll get a little stale. But I doubt you’ll need a week to eat all twelve bars; these were gone within two days in my house!
If you need more time, or are planning to make a gigantic batch, these can be kept in the freezer.
Muffin Pan Aprium Oat Bars
These Aprium Oat Bars are a delicious snack that features this stone fruit hybrid that you're likely to only see at the farmers market.
Ingredients
- 6 apriums
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ cup granulated sugar, packed
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ cups salted butter, cold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prep your muffin pan by greasing liberally or adding paper liners.
- Slice the apriums into wedges. Reserve the wedges from one aprium to top the bars at the end. One aprium should make 12 thin slices.
- Add the wedges from 5 apriums to a saucepan with the granulated sugar and lemon juice. Cook on a medium high heat until the mixture reaches a boil, then continue until the mixture hits 220°F. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Make the oat crumble by mixing together the rolled oats, flour, baking powder, and brown sugar. Grate in the cold butter, and mix together until a crumbly mixture is formed.
- Press half of the oat crumble into the muffin cups; the cups should be half full. Pre-bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Spread the aprium jam on top of the pre-baked oat base, then top with the remaining oat crumble. Add one of the reserved aprium slices on top of each bar (12 slices). Return the oat bars to the oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the oat crumble is golden brown.
- Let the bars cool completely before moving them out of the muffin tin; if you don't let them cool, they will fall apart. Still tasty, but not as pretty.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 495Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 229mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 3gSugar: 26gProtein: 6g
Calculated nutrition values are not always accurate, but can provide a general idea for planning purposes. Please do not rely on this information as it may not be complete. Recipes that include unusual ingredients, especially scrap ingredients, will have the least accurate information with this calculator.
