Chewy, soft and sweet, these Apricot Oatmeal Cookies are packed full of dried fruit for a sweet, healthy, 'keep you going' kinda snack!

Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

If you like to bake cookies, these awesomely crunchy, super filling and far far healthier than store bought apricot oatmeal cookies are one of those basic, make with your eyes closed kinda recipes once you've made them a few times.

My kids love the crunch, the sweetness you get from the dried apricots and honestly, if you're having that afternoon lull, they're pretty amazing savoured with a cup of tea before the kids come crashing through the front door off the school bus!

These cookies are made without eggs and take very little prep time. There's a few variations you can do (see below) but we like these simple, sweet, and on hand for when nothing but a cookie's going to do. No electric mixer needed. Just some man power!

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apricot oatmeal cookies on a cooling rack

What's Good About These Cookies?

I make these with rolled oats as well as wholemeal flour. Not only does the oatmeal give them some added texture, but oatmeal is one of the highest protein grains in town as well as giving you a punch of vitamins and minerals.

This makes them not only a great snack at home but pretty perfect for mid morning snacks at school, bring that oatmeal is filling and plugs the gap between breakfast and lunch for your hungry little ones.

You'll see I've also used Sunflower seeds in this recipe. Sunflower seeds add crunch but more than that they're really high in protein and so when added to the Oatmeal, you're really upping the protein content.

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They're one of the few seeds my kids like to eat, they have a really mild taste and so go almost unnoticed in these cookies, and so if you have fussy eaters (yep, hands up here!) then you might be surprised to find your kids eat these. And even like them :)

Kids like crunch, at least mine do and these are Crunchy! They're sweet to bite into, thanks to the dried apricots and while we're talking apricots, it's worth knowing that apricots are packed with fibre too. There's really nothing to not love about them.

Can You Use Fresh Apricots Instead Of Dried?

Fresh fruit usually carries a lot more water than dried fruit, and so I find dried fruit mostly works better in things like cookies. There are of course some bakes that work well with fresh fruit, bananas are something I often use in baking for their sweetness and as a replacement for fats.

However, the moisture content isn't the only reason I like to bake with dried fruit though. While not brilliant for the kids teeth, when fruit is dried the natural sugar becomes concentrated as the moisture has been removed.

So while technically there's not more sugar than in the fresh fruit, because the water has been removed, the sugars are in a smaller quantity of the fruit if that makes sense :)

It's because of this that you can get a real sweetness punch when using dried fruit to bake. And that means no refined sugar and just as much sweetness. And that's fine with me!

Drying Fresh Apricots

If you have a load of fresh apricots and want to try drying them yourself, the process is really quite simple. There are two ways I use to dry apricots myself, a dehydrator or the oven.

For a long time I didn't have a dehydrator, they were pretty pricy when they first came onto the mass market and I didn't want to spend the money but they're really reasonable now, so if you want to get one, I'd highly recommend. But you don't have to have one to dry fruit!

Which ever way I use, I always cut the fresh apricots in half and take out the stone. While you can dry them whole, they'll take a lot longer, and I'm usually in a hurry!

The oven method is to line a baking sheet, lay your apricots in a single layer and put them into a warm oven overnight, or even a bit longer. 12 hours does the trick. When I say 'warm' oven, I mean really really low, about 50c or 120f, depending on the oven you have.

You want the fruit to dry, not cook! If you're trying this for the first time or don't trust the oven on all night, do this during the day as soon as you wake up so you can keep an eye on them. The apricots will be a muted color of themselves, you're not looking for any crisp edges etc... and if you see them starting to look 'cooked', your oven is too high!

Cookies Substitutions

In terms of additions or substitutions to these cookies, there are a few things you might want to try. Adding vanilla extract (half a teaspoon vanilla at most!) can give a subtle sweetness kids like and goes quite well with apricots. Be careful not to use too much though, or you'll find the vanilla overpowering in these.

Almond extract is good also, but ditto the quantity as with the vanilla!

Chocolate chips are a good call if you've got especially resistant kids and they'll help them to try these cookies. I've no issue at all with a few choc chips being consumed of the end result is other, healthier foods are being eaten when they otherwise wouldn't have been, and you can always reduce the amount you use the more times you bake these.

Lastly, being a big spice fan, I often like to add some spices to them, depending on when I'm baking. Spices to me can add warmth and so in the colder months, adding some cinnamon or nutmeg can give you a more 'wintery' cookie.

Storing Oatmeal Cookies

To store your apricot oatmeal cookies, you'll need a cookie tin to keep the air away from them so they don't become stale and you can keep them fresh in a cookie jar for 3-4 days. If you have an airtight container, this will do just fine!

You'll be happy to know you can also freeze these! If I'm freezing them I stack them (like you'd buy them in the shops) and add a layer square of parchment paper between them so they don't stick together and break when you try to prose them apart! To thaw, leave them out overnight and re-gain the crunch by popping them into a hot oven for 2 minutes.

You can freeze these cookies in your freezer for up to a month.

How To Make Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1 Cup Flour All purpose flour, wholemeal
1 Cup Oats
1 Cup Coconut Shredded
½ Cup Dried Apricots Diced into small pieces
¼ Cup Sunflower seeds
¼ Cup Butter Melted
¼ Cup Honey Or Maple syrup
½ teaspoon Baking soda

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c or 350f
Line a large baking tray with parchment paper
Place the dry ingredients: flour, oats, coconut, apricots and sunflower seeds in a large bowl and combine them
Melt the wet ingredients: butter and honey together in a saucepan until just melted
Combine baking soda and warm water to dissolve and add to the butter & honey mixture
Immediately add the butter mixture to the flour mixture (as baking soda starts to work as soon as it mixes with the honey) and stir well until well combined
Place tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough onto the tray and flatten as much as you can without breaking the cookie
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden
Remove from oven and let the cookies cook in the tray for around 10 minutes before moving them onto wire racks to cool completely

Apricot Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

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