Hello delicious!  These bars are so full of flavor I couldn’t stop eating them.  The recipe says it makes 32 small bars, but I cut mine a little bigger.  I didn’t want to admit that I actually had two cookies, so make them bigger and you only have to have just one!

These delicious little bites are perfect for a large gathering or your holiday dessert tray.

Let me show you just how easy these were to prepare.  (Since these were so delicious, I doubled the recipe and I used a 10×15″ baking dish).

Really!  What’s not to love about these delicious ingredients.  Using almond paste always yields a huge almond flavor….yummy.

When you prepare your pan, be sure to use parchment paper.  It makes it so much easier to remove from the pan and get perfectly cut squares.  It will make you look like a pro.

Mix together the apricot preserves and the Grand Marnier.  If you don’t have Grand Marnier, just use a little bit of triple sec…we need the orange flavor.

Set aside.

Let’s get started on the crust and topping.  With an electric mixer cream together your butter (room temp) and sugar and the almond extract….yummmmmmmmy….love that almond flavor.

Once light and fluffy add in the flour and salt.  Right before the mixture forms a ball and is a little crumbly, remove one cup of the dough and place in a small bowl.

Continue mixing the dough in the mixing bowl until it forms a soft ball.

Add the almond paste to the reserved cup of dough.  Mix together with your fingers, keeping it a little “crumbly”.  This will be your topping.

Remove the ball of dough from the mixing bowl and press it evenly onto the bottom of your prepared pan that has been lined with parchment paper.

Add 1/4 cup of the slivered almonds to the topping mixture.

Evenly spread the apricot mixture over the pressed dough and crumble the almond paste topping mixture on top.  You might have to continue to “crumble” the mixture as you go.

Take the remaining 1/4 cup of slivered almonds and evenly sprinkle them on top.

Lightly press the topping …. very lightly.

Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree F. oven for about 1 hour.   Remove from oven and let cool.

Once the bars are cooled remove the shortbread from the pan, using the parchment paper overflow sides as an aid.  Cut shortbread into 4 equal strips, then cut each strip crosswise into small squares.  Store in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.

These cookies didn’t make it past a day in my house.

I hope you enjoy these truly delicious little bites.