Fresh Apricot with Almonds Cookies
Apricots can be tart, so I balanced it with white chocolate which can sometimes feel extra sweet. Add almonds for crunch and you have the perfect summer cookie.
Servings: 33 cookies
Calories: 124kcal
Ingredients
Cookie Dough
- 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted
- ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar white
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Orange zest
- 2 Tablespoon (2 Tablespoon) Orange juice fresh
- 3 cups (375 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1 ¼ cups (193.75 g) Fresh Apricots
- ¾ cup (107.25 g) Almonds sliced
ICING
- 1 cup (236.59 g) White chocolate wafers
Instructions
- To prepare the apricots, cut a small X in the bottom and the top of the apricot. Bring water to a boil and turn the burner off before adding the apricots. Blanch for 1 minute, then move the apricots to the ice water. Then take a section where scored and peel each section. Cut the apricots in half and remove the pit. Cut into small bite-size pieces until you get 1 ¼ cups (depending on the size 4 to 5 apricots).
- Zest 1 orange into a bowl and set it aside. Next, cut the orange in half, and in another bowl, juice the orange until you have two tablespoons of orange juice.
- Weigh or measure your flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside. I also run a whisk through the dry ingredients to blend them. Next, weigh or measure your sugar in a separate bowl and set that aside.
- In a stand (I love my KitchenAid) or hand-held mixer cream, the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy for about 3 minutes. Add the orange zest, vanilla extract, and fresh orange juice and blend. Turn the mixer down and slowly add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients.
- Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides and add the almond slices and the fresh apricots. Only blend on low speed until the almonds and the apricots are through the dough. Don't mix for very long, or the apricots will start to break up. Take a spatula, blend in any flour at the bottom of the bowl and try and distribute the apricots evenly throughout the batter.
- Loosely cover and put the cookie dough into the refrigerator for at least an hour. Any time you use fresh fruit in a cookie, you need the cookie dough cold before baking — a good time to preheat your oven and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Pull the cookie dough from the refrigerator and using a medium cookie scooper, I add 12 mounds to a cookie sheet pan. I put the cookie dough back in the fridge between bakings. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 12-14 minutes mine were good at 13 minutes, but every oven is just a little different. They should start to get golden brown on the top and the sides.
- Take the white chocolate wafers and microwave for 30 seconds and stir, then heat for another 15 seconds and stir. If it has not all melted, only do for another 15 seconds. Don't microwave for too long, or the chocolate will seize. It will be hard and lumpy looking.
- Put melted white chocolate into a small piping bag with a small Wilton #3 tip. Going back and forth over the top of each cookie this will give just enough sweetness to each cookie. I love white chocolate and apricots; they compliment each other nicely.
Nutrition
Calories: 124kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 23mg | Potassium: 49mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 245IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg