Apricot, Almond, and White Chocolate Cookies

One of the perks to being back to work is that I am in the very close vicinity to The Ultimate Bakeshop – a booth in the Wayne and Ardmore Farmer’s Market. I am literally obsessed with their scones – low in sugar and fat, made with whole wheat flour, but still so perfectly delicious I can’t stand it. My most favorite flavor is the apricot almond variety – I unabashedly asked for the recipe once and got flatly turned down. This cookie has the essence of that scone, and even in second place it’s still a fantastic combo.

I don’t actually like white chocolate, always passing on the peppermint bark at Christmas. Something about the chips baked into cookies, though, changes the entire flavor. They get crunchy and crazy sweet rather than the waxy stuff I typically avoid. With the mild and chewy dried apricots and the almond extract for depth, it’s a very well rounded cookie. I find that dried apricots are another polarizing food – some love them and others won’t touch them. If you’re the latter, chop them finely and they’ll go a little more unnoticed. The reason I made these was that I needed to bring a dessert to a post-Easter-egg-hunt party and I had just enough time to do my quick chocolate chip cookies. I wanted something less typical and more spring-y, and I had the ingredients for this combo. The base is my quick chocolate chips but I subbed 1 tsp. almond for vanilla, and changed the additions. An easy and decidedly happy swap, I will be making these again in the next few weeks as my husband made quick work of the leftovers and, well, I miss them.

2 c. + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

12 tbsp. butter, melted, slightly cooled

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. almond extract

1 c. dried apricots, diced

1 c. white chocolate chips or chunks

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray if you don’t have parchment).

2. (Melt butter first so that it can cool slightly). Whisk flour, soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Stir butter, brown sugar and white sugar until completely blended, making sure there are no more brown sugar lumps.

4. Add egg, egg yolk and extracts and mix to combine.

5. Add dry ingredients and mix gently until almost combined.

6. Add apricots and white chocolate and fold until additions are evenly distributed.

7. Roll remaining dough into rough balls (about 1 heaping tbsp. amounts) and place 2 inches apart from each other and from the edges on the prepared baking sheet.

8. Place sheets in the oven (1 top left, 1 bottom right) and bake for 16-18 minutes, switching and rotating pan position half way through.