Harissa Apricot Almond Bars

Ingredients

Servings: 60 bars

Preparation

1. Place both almond flours, granulated sugar, baking powder and sea salt in a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Gently mix to evenly combine ingredients.
2. Add large sized chunks of cold butter. Gently mix to break up the butter and lightly combine the ingredients. * Small-medium sized chunks of butter should still be visible in the mixture
3. In a separate mixing bowl, place the cracked whole eggs, egg whites and almond extract. Whisk to aerate and evenly combine the ingredients. Add this whisked egg mixture to the almond flour/butter mixture in the stand mixer. Gently mix just until the egg mixture becomes incorporated. * Dough will be aerated, sticky and somewhat wet, with visible small size chunks of butter throughout.
4. Remove the dough from the mixer. Evenly spread the dough into a 1/2 sheet pan fitted with parchment paper. Gently pat down the dough to smoothly and evenly fit throughout the pan.
5. Apply a thin schmear of harissa paste to the dough, evenly covering the entire dough.
6. Apply a thin schmear of apricot preserves over the harissa paste, evenly covering the entire area.
7. Sprinkle the pre-toasted natural sliced almonds over the apricot preserves, evenly covering the entire area. Gently press the almonds into the apricot preserves (ensuring they stick into the preserves).
8. Place in a 300 degree Fahrenheit convection oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes. * Finished bars will have an even glazed color on top (edges may be slightly darker) with visible slices of baked toasted almond slices covering the entire top.
9. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely at room temperature. * Finished bars will be a beautiful combination of somewhat dense/soft/chewy with a top crunch of toasted sliced almonds.
10. Bars will have attractive layers of almond color from the dough and sliced almonds, red color from harissa and orange color from apricot preserves.
11. Portion into 60 servings of snack bars.
12. Place Harissa Apricot Almond Bars in a sealed container and reserve refrigerated.

Notes

These Harissa Apricot Almond Bars are an elevated snack experience – savory, sweet, and a little spicy. The richness of almond flour and buttery dough creates a soft, slightly chewy base, while the layer of harissa brings a gentle heat that balances beautifully with the tangy-sweet apricot preserves.