I’m on the hunt for great slice recipes to add to my repertoire at the moment.  I have fallen in love with slices, they are so quick and easy, and that means they are useful for busy mums with just enough time to throw some ingredients into a bowl, stir, tip into a pan and bake.  Sound like someone you know?  This week I went looking for a slice that wasn’t just full of syrup or choc-bits, and wasn’t topped with sugar-laden icing.  I, by the way, happen to love those syrupy, chocolatey, sugar-laden slices with a nice hot cup of coffee, but if they make too many appearances in my kids lunch boxes I start to suffer some extra “Mummy Guilt”, and there’s enough of that to go around already.

This healthy, but not so photogenic beauty (I tried every background I had to get a good shot!) uses wholemeal flour and relies on dried apricots and apricot nectar to give it it’s sweetness.  The nectar and yoghurt (I used vanilla) keep it beautifully moist and it travels nicely.  We took a container full with us on a last-minute trip to Brisbane in case the kids started groaning, which they did, and there was barely any left by the time we reached our destination.  Mind you, I still had to pack another snack for The Vegemite Kid who still turns his nose up  at almost everything that contains visible fruit, yet eats Chocolate Zucchini Muffins by the dozen knowing full well the zucchini is in there.

The words “Sugar-Free” tend to jump out at any mother of a little diabetic, but don’t be deceived, Sugar-Free doesn’t mean that it doesn’t contain Natural Sugar, it just means that You haven’t Added any Sugar!   The apricots, nectar and even your yoghurt contain some sugar. Overall I think this slice is pretty healthy, as long as you use low-fat yoghurt and don’t cut it into huge pieces.  I haven’t made an accurate carb calculation yet (you get very good at making rough on-the-spot calculations) but I am sure the flour, dried apricots and nectar will make it quite substantial.

My husband loves it, the kids love it, so I will keep making it!

Sugar-Free Apricot Yoghurt Slice

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cups Wholemeal Self-Raising Flour (or 1 1/2 Cups Plain Wholemeal Flour with 1 tsp Bicarb. Soda and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder added)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

150g Dried Apricots, Diced

1 1/4 Cups Vanilla or Apricot Yoghurt (I used Vanilla)

1 Egg

1/4 Cup Apricot Nectar

2 Tbl Olive Oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 160C

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine thoroughly.  This is what I like to call a “Dump Recipe”, which basically means you dump all of the ingredients into a bowl and stir.  Anyone can do it.

Place mixture into a lightly greased slice tin, or you could line the tin with baking paper, and bake for approx. 45 minutes.  Your slice with turn a lovely golden colour, and when you test your slice with a skewer (or a fork), the skewer will come out clean.

Set aside to cool before slicing.  Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

LunchBox Tips….

I placed mine in the refrigerator to avoid it becoming sticky in this warm weather.

Freeze any apricot nectar you have left-over in ice-cube trays, and then place frozen cubes in a labelled snap-lock bag ready for the next time you need it.

I don’t know the original recipe source, but I came across this recipe at http://www.frillsinthehills.com/2011/03/lunchbox-legends-sugar-free-apricot.html

This week I am taking part in The Recipe Swap at http://grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com.au/