Sarah Kieffer's book 100 Cookies is divided into several chapters, including one whimsically named "Fruit-extravaganza." Her raspberry rye cookies, banana cream pie bars, and strawberry crème fraîche bars are all in this chapter. So is her recipe for "White Chocolate, Rosemary, and Apricot Cookies," which stood out to me right away; I've made several variations of oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies with dried apricots that have all been terrific. I've also made bars that combined apricot and rosemary, which turned out to be a fantastic combination.
I kept the recipe in the back of my mind until one day when I was at the farmers market and noticed some fresh rosemary; usually I only look at the fruit since my husband handles all of the cooking at our house. My subconscious kicked into gear and reminded me that these cookies were on my mental to-bake list. To make the dough, you cream room temperature butter with granulated sugar, brown sugar, and minced rosemary until light and fluffy; add an egg and vanilla; mix in flour, baking soda, and salt; incorporate rolled oats; and stir in chopped dried apricots and white chocolate (I used a 50-50 mix of Callebaut Velvet white chocolate and Callebaut Gold caramel white chocolate callets).
You can bake the cookies right away. I used a #20 scoop to portion out the dough and got 16 cookies per batch. You bang the pan once towards the end of the baking time and once again when the cookies are done baking and you pull them out of the oven. The cookies spread a good amount and were thin -- but they were wonderfully chewy. I loved the combination of the herbaceous rosemary, the chewy apricots, the milky-caramely white chocolate, and the hearty oats. You couldn't see the finely minced rosemary, but because you cream the rosemary with the butter at the beginning, it's infused throughout.
The woodsy note from the rosemary was just perfect -- it was distinctive without being overpowering. This cookie might seem a bit extra with its many components, but all of the parts come together to form something quite special.
Recipe: "White Chocolate, Rosemary, and Apricot Cookies" from 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer.
Previous Posts:
- "Win Your Next Bake Sale: Toffee-Apricot Oat Cookies," October 15, 2020.
- "A Fruitful Combination: Chocolate and Apricot Cookies," December 5, 2013.
- "The Fruit Blends In but the Cookie Stands Out: Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies," August 31, 2013.
- "Shortbread That Goes the Distance: Rosemary Shortbread," May 1, 2011.
- "Post-Thanksgiving Baking: Rosemary Apricot Squares," November 29, 2010.
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