Soft, chewy, with slightly crisped little edges, these Apricot, Crystalized Ginger and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are not your average oatmeal cookie!

Outside the sliding glass doors, our little backyard has been patiently waiting for the all encompassing heat of the summer months to quietly slip away so it can no longer feel like the red-headed step child and actually be used. Our backyard is quaint, paved with bricks and has little rosebushes and citrus trees that my black thumb has not yet managed to murder. This is quite the feat as I have probably killed off (inadvertently) every plant I have ever tried to nurture throughout my lifetime. Added to that, the heat and humidity during the brutal summer months make it nearly impossible for me to leave the haven of air-conditioned rooms to care for the little gardens properly. My rosebushes are triumphant though, and bloomed throughout the summer, though there were a few crispy flowers amid the happily preening white roses. We have one Meyer Lemon tree that is full of ripening fruit, and our Orange tree (through much debate between Orange vs. Lime, my consensus is Orange) is going to produce enormous oranges this year. It is pretty thrilling, as I love incorporating Citrus into my everyday food!!

But back to the scenic little patio outside. Eventually, our pretty little grill will be set up, and we plan out getting a little table and chairs out there. I would love to get a patio couch set with a mini (or according to the hubs, giant) fire pit. My spatial skills have never been strong so we shall see if we can fit that out there with it still being a comfortable, inviting space, rather than making it small and cramped. I (optimistically, maybe?) think it will work, as our backyard faces a little park so we do not feel closed in. So once we get this all set, during the cooler months I can meander outside in the mornings and enjoy some caffeine with these Apricot, Crystalized Ginger and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies to start my day off right.

Fruity, oat-y, warmly spiced, and a slightly exotic feeling from the crystalized ginger makes these cookies incredibly special.

I must admit, I had never been one for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I loved the soft, oat-filled cookie portion that reminded me a bit of granola, but the raisins. The raisins were my complete downfall. I think that raisins are disgusting…perhaps my tastebuds have changed through the years, but what I do know is that raisins were the first American food my mom tried to give me that I politely refused. According to her recollections, I very solemnly took a raisin from her hand, put it in my mouth, chewed, then promptly took it out of my mouth and delicately placed it back in her outstretched hand. Other dried fruits are not offensive to me, I am perfectly happy with a dried cherry, apricot, and dehydrated banana. I always, always, always ate around the raisins in Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and loved the cinnamon-y, oat-y, granola-like flavors that the rest of that cookie provided my tricky little tastebuds.

These cookies are soft and chewy, and the vast amounts of oatmeal give it some semblance of trying to stay on the healthier side of things while being completely delicious!

So, in true “I am going to eat cookies every day of my life because I am adult and I can” fashion, I found a basic recipe and did riff after riff after riff on it to come up with these little beauties. One too the ingredients I saw time and time again in other recipes was cornstarch, or Crisco, to help create that very soft texture. Being contrary, I was looking for something that would have a bit more texture around the edges while maintaining the familiar tenderness of a traditional Oatmeal Cookie. Since evil raisons wereNOT going to be infiltrating my precious cookie dough, I briefly considered just keeping it to a classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. While those are delicious, I felt that the recipe that was in-development did in fact need something to bolster the flavors from something great to something outstanding. I love, love, love crystalized ginger, but since my husband is a mediocre fan of it, I knew I could not allow that flavor to overpower the entire cookie, which is how I landed upon the Apricots.

One of the things about finding the balance of a soft, yet thoroughly baked through oatmeal cookie is trusting your instincts and your personal preferences for the level of softness. I have tested this cookie dough again and again, to see what methods would create consistent cookies. Straight from the fridge, from the freezer, and right after making the dough. Since there is a high ratio of oatmeal to flour ratio, and because oats typically need a little resting time once combined with a liquid to soften and expand properly, I have found that allowing the dough to sit for a MINIMUM of 2 hours in the fridge after scooping/rolling the cookies is critical. I tested different bake times, from different stages of coldness, and results are as follows.

Straight from the fridge, baked 12-13 minutes yielded a very soft, under baked cookie in the middle. TECHNICALLY it was fine, but to me I can taste a difference of the sugars not completely transforming with the raw dough into thoroughly cooked. Baked 14-15 minutes, the slightly “raw” taste dissipates, and the cookie is still very soft in the middle while very slightly crisping up around the edges. If you take the route that you like it to e a bit more crisp around the edges, hold strong and bake for between 15-16 minutes. I allow the cookies to initially continue baking on the underside on the hot pans for an additional 5 minutes after pulling them from the oven before transferring them to the cooling rack to finish cooling.

Apricot, Crystalized Ginger and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are perfect with a frosty glass of milk...or coffee!!!

This final incarnation of my favorite Apricot, Crystalized Ginger and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are completely, heart stoppingly, sink your teeth into their softness wonderful. The time the dough chills in the fridge is critical in minimizing the spread of the cookie while it bakes, keeping it nice and thick. The dough itself has this wonderful oat-y flavor, tinged with a bit of cinnamon and hints of floral honey. Personally, I adore the fruitiness that bittersweet chocolate brings to cookies, and it compliments the sweet tones of the apricots and then the warm spice from the crystalized ginger chunks. Topped with a few flakes of salt, these cookies are a fabulous way to start tackling the morning. Especially if the to-do list includes more attempts to keep the backyard thriving and escaping murdered roses yet again!!

To me, the apricots are JUST the thing to replace the raisons in traditional Oatmeal Cookies.

Apricot, Crystalized Ginger and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: Around 20 cookies

This cookie dough is incredibly easy to throw together. 9 times out of 10, I will prepare the dough the day before I bake it because then the only thing I literally have to do is bake them. Less work, less cleanup, and I am a happy girl.

I always use Salted Butter while baking because that is what I always have on hand. Roughly there will be 1/4 Tsp of salt per half cup, so if you only have Unsalted Butter, just add the additional salt to the dry ingredients. I wanted to note this because other than the salt for sprinkling, there is no added salt to this recipe. Because the salt level can vary between brands, I wanted to note that I buy the Costco brand butter in bulk because of my various baking/buttering endeavors.

If you want to make this ahead and then freeze, you can make the cookie dough, scoop into balls, then refrigerate for 2 hours then transfer them into the freezer. The cookie dough will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer, and if you bake straight from frozen just add a few additional minutes to the baking time.

Ingredients

1 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
3/4 Cup Butter, melted then cooled (I use Salted Butter)
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Granulated White Sugar
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
2 1/2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats (not instant oats)
1 Rounded Cup Chocolate Chips (I use Ghirardelli Bittersweet, and I chop them a bit)
1/4 Cup chopped fine Dried Apricots
2 Tbsp minced Crystalized Ginger
Coarse Kosher Salt, for sprinkling

Directions

To Prepare the Cookie Dough:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, honey and vanilla thoroughly.
Add in egg and whisk to incorporate.
Add the flour mixture and oatmeal and stir with a Spatula till it comes together just barely. Flour streaks are ok still.
Add in the chocolate chips, apricots, and Crystalized Ginger and mix until combined.
Form into 1 Tbsp balls, sprinkle with the coarse kosher salt, cover and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours to allow the oats to soften properly before baking.

To Bake:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 Baking sheets with Parchment Paper.
Place 8 chilled cookie dough balls per sheet, at least 2 inches between each as the cookies will spread a little while baking.
Bake for 12-14 minutes for slightly softer outer textured cookies, 14-16 minutes for a slightly Crisper outer texture-the insides will be very chewy.
Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool. This continues to help crisp up the outer edges/cooking the inner cookie. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.