Apricot Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie. With that in mind, a chocolate chip cookie makes a great jumping off point for other flavors in a cookie and you can transform an old classic into a new one without missing out on anything. With these Apricot Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, I was looking for something to put a little bit of a twist on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I added in dried apricots, toasted pecans and milk chocolate chips for a cookie that offered a variety of flavors and textures.

All of these ingredients come together for a great cookie combination that seems not only delicious, but a bit unusual, since you don’t usually see them all together in once place. The chocolate adds sweetness, while the apricot adds some chewyiness and a bright, fruity flavor, and the pecans add a toasty crunch. The cookies themselves are buttery, tender, have just the right amount of crunch around the edges and make the perfect backdrop for all of the ad-ins.

The reason that I opted for milk chocolate is that I really feel it is a better match for the apricots than dark chocolate would be. Dark chocolate can have such a strong flavor that it is easy for it to overpower the light, flower flavor of the apricot. Milk chocolate adds some great sweetness to the cookies and still allows the apricot to be a standout flavor on its own.

Apricot Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal (pref. quick cooking)
1 1/3 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together, butter and sugars until light. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then stir in the oatmeal, milk chocolate chips, apricots and pecans.
Drop dough in 1-inch balls onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 350F for 11-14 minutes, until cookies are very lightly browned and set.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies