These nutty stuffed apricots are a super quick and easy foodie gift to make for Christmas. Perfect for that last-minute prezzie for a foodie friend when you’re caught on the hop or maybe need a hostess gift when visiting friends for a festive supper.
YOU WILL NEED;
For one box/bag/tin of these nutty stuffed apricots I used 20 dried apricots, 20 whole blanched almonds, 30 unsalted shelled pistachio nuts, 50g/2 oz good quality (70% cocoa solids) and some sea salt flakes.
This isn’t so much a recipe as a construction job. So simple you can get the kids to make these a a gift, maybe even for their favourite teacher.
Pan roasting the nuts is definitely something you want to do yourself and not let children handle. The nuts have to be done in a dry pan and they burn very easily. Honestly they will only take about a minute to be toasted. They will become just a little golden and start to fill the kitchen with their amazing nutty aroma. Tip them out of the hot pan straight away or they will continue to cook and burn.
I have used normal dried apricots for this recipe. While you can of course get the organic type they tend to be much darker and the pretty colour of these juicy little apricots just adds to their charm.
Look around for nice ways to present your foodie gifts. I got this little box years ago and it makes the perfect holder for my nutty stuffed apricots. They look pretty in a jar too so you could use one of those preserving jars with the wire locking system and wrap a pretty ribbon round it. Old vintage tins are also good but make sure that you put the nutty stuffed apricots in a plastic bag or wrapped in baking parchment so they are not in contact with old metal.
These nutty stuffed apricots will keep for up to a week. I originally created this recipe for my Naughty And Nice Foodie Gifts For Christmas Ebook where you’ll find over 50 great recipes for your hampers this Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Karon x
- 20 dried apricots
- 20 whole blanched almonds
- 30 shelled and unsalted pistachio nuts
- 50g/2 oz good quality dark chocolate (70% solids)
- sea salt flakes
- Crush the nuts roughly
- In a dry pan toast the nuts for approx 1 minute until just turning golden and aromatic. Watch them like a hawk so they don't burn.
- Make a slit in each apricot and use your finger to make a little pocket
- Press in some of the nut mixture to each apricot but reserve some for decorating
- Press apricots closed as much as possible
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over gently simmering water but make sure the water does not touch the base of the bowl
- Dip the cut side of the apricots in the melted chocolate and then sprinkle on some of the reserved toasted nuts and some sea salt flakes
- These will keep in a sealed container for up to 1 week
- Dip
In step 6 above, did you mean to say melt the chocolate, not melt the butter?
Obviously chocolate as no butter in recipe it was a typo