Oatmeal Chocolate Apricot Cookies and a a mini-revelation

Sometimes you need a fruit.

It's not really what I would call a craving, because those can get kind of intense (hello, chocolate and peanut butter!), but it's one of those things that you KNOW will make your whole evening just fall into place perfectly. I was driving home after cashing my paycheck (cha-ching! $$$) and I couldn't get these cute little dried apricots out of my head. I wanted one. But I really wanted to share my mini-craving somehow, so here you go. My take on Martha's Dried Apricot and White Chocolate Cookies.

On another note, I really have not been satisfying my Indian food quotient this year. Thinking about it now, I believe I haven't had a taste of the stuff ALL YEAR. I know! Horrible, right? Especially since I have such a love affair with curry. But today I finally got myself to an Indian restaurant and had some incredible naan and Aloo Gobi and lentil soup. It was just spicy enough that it left my mouth wanting more, but the complex combination of tomato and sauteed onion and turmeric, with the cauliflower and potatoes in the Aloo Gobi was heaven on my tongue. So... now I know what savory dish I'm trying to make next. ;-)

Back to the really good stuff, these cookies. Which are smelling up my kitchen. Right before dinner....Must...resist....sugary....smell.... Well. I tried. :)

(Who could resist?)

Oatmeal Chocolate Dried Apricot Cookies

(adapted from my friend Martha)
Yield 1 dozen

Ingredients:

• 6 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
• 6 tbls old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 ounces (1/2 stick) salted butter, softened

• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 tbsp packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 large egg
• 2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces dried apricots chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, oatmeal, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cream butter and sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs, and beat until well combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture gradually, beating until just combined. Stir in chocolate and apricots. Cover, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown around the edges but still soft in the center, 14 to 16 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. Cookies will keep, covered, for up to 1 week.

Happy Baking!

Jessica