Apricot Ginger Cookies

Cookies! You know you love them. I do, too. With apricot and ginger these oat based cookies are tender, chewy, rich and relatively healthy. Not to mentions super tasty.

Apricot Ginger Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger root
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 cup white flour (approximately)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
Cream butter, honey and sugars until smooth. Add ginger, salt and eggs and beat again. Place oats in a blender container. Blend until they become flour. Add to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix in the flours and baking powder. When dough is thoroughly combined, stir in the apricots and white chocolate chips. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into a 8 x 8 inch square on parchment paper. It will be 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 2 x 1/2 inch rectangles. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 11 to 13 minutes.

Hints: I use regular salted butter in this recipe. Add just enough white flour to make a stiff dough but not so much that it is dry. Likewise, don't over-bake the cookies or they will be tough and dry instead of chewy. The dough can be frozen once it is cut into bars, then baked from frozen. I have found that the apricots work best if cut into 1/4 inch chunks. If they are smaller than that, they blend into the dough; if larger than that, they don't get distributed well. Add more ginger root if you want a real statement cookie, up to another full teaspoon. These would be good with a dark chocolate drizzle topping or a ginger glaze.

A warm ginger cookie is just about as good as it gets on a chilly evening. These are hard to resist, so make them when you can share with some friends.