I had several pounds of apricots from Andy’s Orchard and they needed to be used. It would be criminal to let any Anyas just sit there.

In this heat wave I ended up warming the pan for the air fryer function on my Breville microwave+, halving the apricots, tossing them with a couple of tablespoons of melted butter, single layer, and cooking them at 400 for seven minutes. Repeat with the rest. Didn’t add any sugar yet; I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out and I didn’t want to burn anything.

My gadget came with 400F as the preset and I have yet to figure out how to turn it down. Up, yes, down, no.

The result was revelatory. No apricot will ever go unused in my house again. I started out by making pumpkin almond muffins and substituting pureed apricots and adding almond extract. Might add a tablespoon or two of liquid next time, but those were good.

Or I could make a cookie crust base, add the apricots, sprinkle some streusel on top. I did put some in my oatmeal this morning.

They had started to get a little dried, as apricots do. They are entirely revived now and the flavor and texture are all you could hope for.

I have a pie’s worth in a ziplock. I just need to remember when I take it out of the freezer that they still do need that sugar.