Oatmeal Fruit Cookies

This cookie recipe came into being one evening before grocery day a few weeks ago. I remembered I needed to bring a sweet treat to an essential oils presentation I was going to the next evening at a classmate's house. Our fridge and pantry were quite bare. I had no chocolate chips, no peanut butter, no cream of tartar (for snicker-doodles) and no baking cocoa for brownies. I absolutely did not want to go to the store and buy ingredients.

As I was scouring the kitchen and refusing to go to the store and spend money, I came across some dried apricots and dried apples my parents had sent us at Christmas time. I hesitated because I knew the store/chocolate chip route was safer...there was still a 50/50 chance I'd have to go that route after making the batch of cookies I was going to invent because of cookie failure (baking is hard to improvise, but I never seem to learn...). Even so, I decided for the adventuresome fruit/cookie route and am so glad I did! We ate at least a quarter of the batch that night; I had to take the cookies and leave them in the car the following day so my husband wouldn't eat the rest of them while I was at school.

The only non-typical ingredients in this recipe are the dried apricots and dried apples. However, dried cranberries can be used instead and I would imagine that raisins would also work. Here it is:

Oatmeal Fruit Cookies
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar*
1/2 cup white sugar*
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat flour**
2 cups white flour**
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground clove
1/3 cup dried apricots (chopped/diced)
1/2 cup dried apples (chopped/diced)


*1 cup white OR brown sugar can also be used INSTEAD OF 1/2 cup of each.
**You are welcome to use only wheat flour or only white flour if you prefer. Just make sure there is a total of 2 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup rolled oats however you choose to divide it up.

Baking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Add the rolled oats, spices and baking soda. Mix. Add the wheat flour followed by the white flour. Stir until everything is mixed in. Add the dried fruit. Chill if necessary.*

Shape the dough into balls about the size of walnuts (or whatever size you want your cookies to be). Place on a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes until slightly brown. Remove from tray. Enjoy!


*Sometimes the dough is still sticky at this point. If it is, put it in the fridge for a few minutes to chill (or freezer if you are impatient like me) that normally helps. In general, I cheat on this step by putting cookies on the first tray to bake and then putting the rest of the dough in the freezer between baking rounds...