Once upon a time, I worked at a cafe that had a chocolate chip cookie recipe with dried apricots in it.
And my response when I saw the recipe, was to wonder (aloud) why anyone would ruin a perfectly delicious chocolate chip cookie with something like dried fruit.
Everyone just told me to wait and try them before I judged, because, they said, it just works.
I scrunched up my nose, made the dough and baked the cookies. And they were right. It totally works. It’s all in the combination of textures.
These are hearty, spiced, oat cookies with gooey pools of chocolate, crunchy roasted macadamias and chewy chunks of apricot.
The combination has since become a favourite of mine. The apricot is slightly refreshing against the rich chocolate and the sweet, chewy cookie. They’re so good! Trust me.
Spiced cookies like these are such a nice thing to be baking around this time of year.
Hope you’re all enjoying the lead up to Christmas! What are you baking for the holidays? X
- 110g unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- ⅔ cup brown sugar, packed (125g)
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup plain flour (95g)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ - ½ tsp sea salt, to taste
- 1½ cups rolled oats (120g)
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (65g)
- ⅓ cup roasted macadamias, chopped
- ⅓ cup dried apricots, chopped
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F) and ine a couple of trays with baking paper.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until combined.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beau until smooth.
- Turn the mixer onto a low speed, and add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and oats, just until incorporated.
- Stir in the macadamias, chocolate chips and apricots.
- Use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop balls of dough on the prepared trays.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centre's still soft.
- Makes 12 - 14 regular cookies.
- Happy baking!
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen via this Oatmeal Raisin recipe.