Apricot Cookies Recipe with Dark Chocolate

Combine sweet fruit with crunchy almonds and rich dark chocolate – you have the perfect, decadent apricot cookies for year-round indulging!

I have so many favorite fruits and vegetables in season in the summer I sometimes feel pressure to make sure I make and eat all of the recipes I can with them. Watermelon! Avocados! Strawberries!

Along with those wonderful treats, I love apricots. I think they are so cute growing on their little trees, and I love making all sorts of unique recipes with them, like the apricot cookies I am sharing today.

These will be a perfect summer dessert, but you can even make them for a holiday cookie exchange. Hold onto this recipe!

Dried Apricot Cookie Recipe

The great thing about this easy cookie recipe is that it is made with dried apricots, so you can make them year round once you preserve your summer crop.

Combine sweet fruit with crunchy almonds and rich dark chocolate – you have the perfect, decadent dried fruit cookies for year-round indulging!

How to Dry Apricots

Apricots are ripe in late summer. If you’d like to make this recipe (or any other with dried apricots), you can pick/purchase them fresh and dry them yourself. It’s a pretty big savings as dried apricots are very expensive, at least around here.

You can either dry them in the oven or use a dehydrator. In either case, you’re going to rinse your apricots to wash away dirt and then slice in half and remove the pits.

You’re going to turn each half inside out, putting your thumbs in the center on the outside and pushing. You want the most flesh possible exposed to the air.

If you want to dry your apricots in the oven, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay the halves on the sheet with the flesh face up.

Preheat your oven to its lowest setting (you want to be 200 degrees or lower). You’ll dry them for about 10 – 12 hours, checking them halfway through to see how they are doing.

Turn them at the halfway mark to ensure even drying. If you dry at a higher temp, just be sure to check them more often.

A dehydrator is another way to dry apricots. This is my preferred method – I have a dehydrator and I can’t tell you how much I love it! You’ll still remove the pits and turn the apricots inside out.

Then you’ll place them on the dehydrating racks and refer to your manual for the drying time (every dehydrator is different).

---

Are you ready to use your dried fruit? Here’s how you make this easy cookie recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 package (12 oz) dark chocolate chips

Tips and tricks for this recipe:

• Don’t skip chilling the dough. Sometimes it’s a drag to wait but it keeps the cookies from spreading and enhances the flavor.
• Let your pan cool between batches of cookies (it helps to have two pans in rotation). This keeps the cookies from spreading a lot.
• I swear by USA Pans. They are my absolutely favorite and cook baked items so evenly.
• Check the cookies regularly through the baking process and go by how they look versus the time on the recipe. The edges should be golden brown and set.
• Cold ingredients should be at room temperature (egg, butter) but don’t leave them out too long.
• Bread flour can make these cookies more chewy, and cake flour can make them more delicate (as alternatives to white flour).
• These cookies should stay fresh for approximately five days at room temperature after baking. You can store them in the fridge for a bit longer, and freeze them up to three months.

Is there anything better than dipping things in chocolate? Cookies, fruit, your hands? Nope, nothing better than that.

Didn’t my apricot cookies turn out gorgeous? I love how the apricot and almonds peek out and the contrast of the chocolate on the cookie just adds to the decadence once you take a bite. This mix of flavors is perfect and so moist, crunchy, chewy and delicious!

---

Nothing better than an outside-the-box cookie recipe, is there? What’s your favorite? Share away! And be sure to visit us as we blog about style, food, and the things we love over at the Pretty Life Girls!

If you enjoyed these apricot cookies, I highly recommend checking out these lemon cookies with cream cheese frosting. They’re magical! I’d also love for you to check out these other cookies:

• Cranberry Walnut Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
• Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies with Cinnamon
• Shortbread Tea Cookies For Your Next Tea Party
• Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans