Let’s see How To Make Apricot Cookie Bar At Home with step by step instructions and photos. Apricot Newtons are soft and flakey biscuit filled with dried apricot jam inside. They are a kind of pastry biscuit with soft fruit filling inside.
What is Newton Biscuits
Newtons are a kind of pastry biscuit that is popular in the UK. They are trademarked by the Nabisco company. These biscuits are known for their unique shape and different fruit paste filling. “Fig Newtons” were the most common and popular version of Newton biscuits where figs are processed into a paste and filled in the biscuit.
There are also some other versions of fruit filling such as apple cinnamon, strawberry, raspberry, and mixed berry are also used.
Newtons are unique shaped baked biscuits with a fruit filling and are very popular in the USA.
About the recipe apricot newtons
Here, in this recipe, I replaced the dry figs with dry apricots and used them as a filling for these delicious newton pastry biscuits.
These apricot newtons are soft flakey pastry biscuits made with whole wheat and sorghum or jowar flour base and a soft apricot filling. Aricot newtons are a healthy snack because they contained a dried fruit filling and a base made with whole grains.
For making apricot newtons we made a base with whole wheat flour and jowar flour and then filled it with a mildly sweeten dry apricot fruit paste.
I have used very little sweetener in the form of brown sugar and desi khandsari sugar because I don’t want them to be very sweet. you can increase the sugar content if like them sweeter. The addition of ginger and cinnamon powder enhances the flavour of apricot fruit jam.
For buying dry apricots, you can choose original light yellow coloured apricots that are dried using the sulphur solution or go with the unsulphured one, which is darker in colour but has no difference in taste. I have used the unsulphured version of apricots and that’s why my filling is a little on the darker side.
We can prepare the filling ahead of time so the filling gets nicely cool and sets before the making of the cookies bar.
Making these cookies is not very hard just need little patience and practice to shape the cookies. The use of a bench scraper makes the job easy to shape cookies.
once the cookies become light golden coloured we take them out from the oven and let them cool completely. they are very soft when taken out from the oven so be careful while transferring on a wire rack. When the cookies cool completely they are slightly crisper in texture but becomes soft the next day due to the fruit filling. Store them in an airtight container. These cookies stay good for 1-2 weeks at room temperature.
Ingredients used in the apricot filled newtons
For filling
- Dry apricot
- Brown sugar
- Ginger powder
- Cinnamon powder
For cookies outer covering
- Jowar flour OR sorghum
- Whole wheat flour
- Cornflour
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter
- Khandsari sugar
- Vanilla essence
- Vinegar
FAQs
Why Newton biscuits are famous as ‘Fig Newtton’ ?
Fig Newtons are the 3rd most popular cookie in the U.S. Fig Newtons are first baked at the F.A. Kennedy Steam Bakery. The company give them this name after the town of Newton, Massachusetts. Recently the Kennedy Biscuit Company and the New York Biscuit company merged to form a new company Nabisco.
Can i use fresh apricot?
yes, you can use fresh fruit for these cookies. Wash fresh ripe apricots and cut them into small pieces. churn them in a food processor or grinder. then cook it in orange or lemon juice and sugar till it become a thick kind of paste. cool it completely before filling the cookies.But using dried fruit is much easier and no need of adding sugar in it as sugar is concentrated when they dried up.
Step by step preparation of apricot filled cookies
How to make Apricot filling
1.First wash apricots nicely with water and soak in water just enough to cover them and leave aside for 3-4 hours.
2.After 4-5 hours, strain out water and keep it aside. Now cut apricots into small pieces and transfer to a grinder jar. Add little water from the strained water and churn it into a coarse mixture.
3.Take a pan add ground coarse mixture of the apricots, leftover soaked water, 2 tbsp brown sugar and start cooking on a low flame till all the moisture absorbed and it become thick mixture.
4. Lastly add ginger powder and mix well. Take off from the heat and let it cool completely.
5. Once cooled, transfer it to an air tight container and put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
For making newton sheets
- Beat butter in a bowl . then add sugar and beat together till the mixture become light and fluffy.
2. In another bowl sieve jowar flour, wheat flour, corn flour,baking powder and salt. Mix well once.
3. Now Add vinegar, vanilla essence and dry flour mixture to the sugar butter mixture and gently fold it. Do not knead. Just combine to make a dough.
4. Give a square shape to the dough and put in a cling film. Now refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, take out the dough from the refrigerator. Meanwhile, preheat oven at 160 degrees Celsius for about 12-15 minutes.
6. Take out the apricot filling from refrigerator .Transfer it to a piping bag and make a big whole. Keep it aside.
7. Divide the dough into four pieces.Transfer a piece and put it on a cling film and cover it with another piece of cling film. Gently roll it to 1/8 inch thickness. Give it a shape of rectangle with 3.5 inch width and remove the extra part.
8. Now fill out the center portion with apricot filling. Gently take one side and turn it on the filling and then turn it again to close the ends. Gently press and tap the joining to make it smooth.
9. Cut into 2 inches slices. Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
10. Similarly, make slices from rest of the dough pieces and transfer to the baking tray.
11. Bake them for 20-22 minutes or till they become golden in colour in the preheated oven.
12. Once done, take them out from oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Store them in a air tight container. They stay good for 2-3 weeks.
Serving suggestions
Apricot newtons are a healthy low sugar recipe with whole grains. Serve them at snack time with tea or coffee or as a dessert. It is a healthy and delicious snack for kids. You can also make them to gift your friends.
Tips and tricks
- After preparing dough for the cookies, refrigerate them for at least 20-30 minutes which helps in giving flakey cookies.
- You can bake the whole log filled with apricot jam and cut it into pieces once it is baked.
- They stay good for 7-10 days at room temperature, for a longer shelf life put them in the refrigerator.
- Cool completely and serve a day after they are baked.
Recipe card
How To Make Apricot Cookie Bar At Home | Apricot Newtons
Ingredients
For filling
- 150 gm dry apricots
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp ginger powder
For making newton sheets
- 100 gm jowar flour sorghum
- 60 gm whole whaet flour
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 120 gm butter unsalted
- 60 gm khandsari sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp vinegar
Instructions
Apricot filling
- First wash apricot nicely with water and soak in water just enough to cover them and leave aside for 3-4 hours.
- After 4 hours, strain out water and keep it aside. Now cut apricot into small pices and transfer to a grinder jar. Add little water from the strained water and churn it into a coarse mixture.
- Take a pan add ground coarse mixture of the apricot, leftover soaked water, 2 tbsp brown sugar and start cooking on a low flame till all the moisture absorbed and it become thick mixture.
- Lastly add ginger powder and mix well. Take off from the heat and let it cool completely.
- Once cooled, transfer to an air tight container and put it in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
For making newton sheets
- Beat butter in a bowl . Then add sugar and beat together till the mixture become light and fluffy.
- In another bowl sieve jowar flour, wheat flour, corn flour,baking powder and salt. Mix well once.
- Now Add vinegar, vanilla essence and dry flour mixture to the sugar butter mixture and gently fold it. Do not knead. Just combine to make a dough.
- Give a square shape to the dough and put in a cling film. Now refrigerate it for 15-20 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, take out the dough from the frefrigerator. Meanwhile preheat oven at 160 degrees Celsius for about 12-15 minutes.
- Take out the apricot filling from refrigerator . Transfer it to a piping bag and make a big whole. Keep it aside.
- Divide the dough into four pieces.Transfer a piece and put it on a cling film and cover it with another piece of cling film. Gently roll it to 1/8 inch thickness. Give it a shape of rectanagle with 3.5 inch width and remove the extra part.
- Now fill out the centre portion with apricot filling. Gently take one side and turn it on the filling and then turn it again to close the ends. Gently press and tap the joining to make it smooth.
How to bake newtons
- Cut into 2 inches slices. Transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Similarly, make slices from rest of the dough pieces and transfer to the baking tray.
- Bake them for 20-22 minutes or till they become golden in colour in the preheated oven.
- Once done, take them out from oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
- Store them in a air tight container. They stay good for 2-3 weeks.
Video
Notes
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