Happy New Year! I cannot believe we are officially in 2023! Crazy stuff. Still hoping for snow, but we’ll see! How were your holidays? Any interesting new years resolutions? I think mine will be to eat healthier, but what can you do when there are so many sweets to bake?
Speaking of sweets, lets talk about these cookies. Its a whole new year, so we need something a little different then what you might be used to. I always try to post recipes that are unique and a little daring on my blog, but with a new year ahead of us I plan to really lean into that. These cookies do exactly that.
Now I know what your thinking. “Apricot? In a cookie??? I don’t know about that”. And I get it. It sounds a little weird, but you have to trust me on this one. It is really, really, REALLY good. The chewy, almost gummy-like texture of the apricots with the warm crunch of the pecans, and the bittersweet rivers of chocolate are a match made in heaven. When you look at this recipe, don’t skip past it and go for the classic chocolate chip cookie. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good chocolate chip cookie, but these just hit different.
Describe These Cookies to Me
Taste: When you first bite into this cookie you are greeted with the familiar taste of chocolate and pecan. We’re using chocolate chunks so you’ll have little rivers of bittersweet chocolate all throughout. Then, you get the buttery and slightly salty flavor of the cookie itself, which is closely followed by the sweet and fruity taste of the apricot. As you continue to eat, all of these flavors mix into one and it is MAGICAL.
Texture: You’ve got a crisp and caramelized exterior, with a soft and slightly gooey interior, just like any good chocolate chip cookie should have. You have mouth watering puddles of chocolate, crunchy toasted pecans, and chewy dried apricots all throughout the cookie, giving you the perfect mix of all textures.
Ease: I feel like as we are beginning a new year, we all need some easier recipes to quickly whip up. Add this one to your list! The dough comes together in about 10 minutes, and then you can just stick it in the fridge for an hour or so to firm up. Finally, roll them into balls and thow ’em in the oven. Thats it. No extra steps. No decoration. No extra bowls. Thats. It. What more could you want?
Key Ingredients in These Cookies
Butter: Butter creates a fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth texture
Lots of brown sugar: For this recipe, we use both white and brown sugar, but more of the brown. This creates a soft, buttery chocolate chip cookie which pairs well with our other flavors.
Cornstarch: This isn’t in a lot of cookies, but we need it in this one. With all of our mix ins, these cookies are LOADED. To balance this out, we need the cornstarch to provide a stable base.
Room temperature ingredients: Like many recipes, both the eggs and butter should be at room temperature. Again, this ensures a soft and buttery cookie, and makes sure it stays together.
Dried apricots, dark chocolate chunks, and pecans: This is of course a big part of this recipe. We use chopped pecans, diced dried apricot, and big chunks of bittersweet chocolate.
Why do we Chill the Dough?
Unlike my classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, we have to chill this dough. We do this to stop the cookies from over spreading and falling apart. As I said, this cookies are filled to the brim with our mix ins so we need a staple cookie dough to stop them from falling apart. Chilling provides this.
How to Shape These Cookies
Sense we chilled the dough, the cookies won’t spread as much. In order to get the right thickness for these cookies we need to flatten our cookie dough balls a bit before baking. This helps them spread into the perfect cookie thickness. I know what you’re thinking. Why did we chill the dough for an hour to stop it from spreading, and now we are trying to make it spread? It seems counter productive. But chilling it helps us keep it all under control. I tried to make these without chilling and it just doesn’t work. So in the end you have to chill the dough, and then slightly flatten your cookie dough balls.
Apricot Pecan and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- In a large bowl using either a hand or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium high speed until fluffy and creamed, around 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat on high speed until combined, around 1-2 minutes. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, pour these dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. Keeping the mixer on low speed, add the chopped chocolate, pecans, and apricots and beat until combined, just 15 seconds or so.
- Cover the top of the bowl with cling wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Remove the chilled cookie dough from the fridge.
- Roll the chilled dough into balls, about 1 loaded tablespoon in size. Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, then lightly press on them to flatten them slightly. Look at the photo above for a visual. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until the sides are slightly brown, but the centers are still soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. I highly recommend eating these warm because the chocolate will be gooey and delicious, but they are great cooled as well.
- Cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
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