Chocolate Chip Biscuits with Apricots and Nuts

I borrowed this recipe from the wonderful HFG. I am addicted to their monthly publication but even more so, Healthy Food Guide online and their vast array of easy, low-cost healthy recipes!

When I first tried one of these cookies, they were so incredibly mouth-wateringly good and jam-packed full of nuts, apricots and dark chocolate! I almost couldn’t quite believe the recipe came from HFG – they were so moreish!

I thought this recipe was definitely worth sharing as most chocolate chip biscuits are so high in fat, it isn’t funny. I recently put together a birthday present/care package for a sibling and tucked a dozen or so of these bite-sized morsels inside too. I had word from the other end of the country that these were quite the favourite in their BOP-based household.

Although my wee photograph doesn’t quite give the recipe justice, you’ll have to just trust me on this one and make a batch for yourself. Play around a little and add all sorts of your favourite nuts and seeds. I personally love the combination of apricot and dark chocolate – only the best Whittaker’s chocolate will do!

Chocolate Chip Biscuits with Apricot and Nuts

• 100 grams of margarine
• 1/2 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (I prefer dark)
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (I use a mixture of walnuts and almonds)
• 1/2 cup of wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup of white flour
• 1/2 cup of rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Firstly, set the oven to 180 degrees. Cream the margarine and sugar together in a bowl until thick, light and creamy; add vanilla and mix through. Add chocolate chips, dried apricots and nuts and mix well. Add sifted flours, rolled oats and baking powder and mix until well combined.

Lightly spray a large oven tray with oil. Roll the crumbly mixture into balls – it’s quite a crumbly mixture but it will come together – and arrange on a tray, allowing space for mixture to spread. Press down with a fork, holding onto the sides of the ball to prevent it crumbling.

Cook for around 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top but still soft in the middle. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray before removing to a wire rack.

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

Fudge is a delicious combination of sugar, butter, milk and flavours like chocolate, vanilla, passion fruit, the list never ends! The tricky part of making fudge is combining these items and cooking them properly.

When it comes to making fudge, I’m not really interested. Let’s be honest here, I kind of lack patience. All that stirring and time spent bent over the stovetop waiting and watching as sugar seems to take foreverrrrr to dissolve.

All that said some people make wonderful fudge! I envy places like a wee shop in Palmerston North called Munchkins. They make all sorts of flavours like cookies and cream, Baileys Irish crème, passionfruit (my favourite) and many others. Do check them out – they are definitely worth a visit next time you’re visiting the Manawatu. Chocoholics rejoice! Look at me; I’m doing a better job of selling the store out of fudge than I am blogging about my delights.

Now we’ve got fudge on the radar, I think apricots are hugely underrated and what a great way to use them. The following recipe is a favourite of mine or my mother’s. Perfect for gifts and much simpler time wise than most fudge recipes.

I have since discovered you can now purchase Munchkins fudge online. Go on, I dare you. You don’t even have to leave the house!

Have a good weekend and enjoy the recipe!

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

• 1 packet crushed biscuits
• 75g brown sugar
• 500g apricots, chopped
• 200g butter
• ½ a can of condensed milk
• Coconut to sprinkle

I recommend using quite a large saucepan for this recipe, just to give you a bit of stirring room! Heat pot over a medium heat and melt the butter, brown sugar and the condensed milk. Chop up the apricots into bite-sized pieces and add to the cooked mixture. Add the crushed biscuits and mix like you’ve never mixed before. Fudge tends to get very thick very quick and you want to try and get this mixture as smooth as you can.

Line a baking tin with greaseproof cooking paper and press the mixture firmly into the tin. Sprinkle with the coconut. I have always thought apricots go really nicely with nuts of most kinds so if you wanted to make this item slightly more nutritious, you could add nuts in with the apricots.

Put the tin into the fridge to set. Fudge doesn’t generally take very long to go hard so no need to make this one well in advance. Fudge also travels particularly well so makes an excellent homemade gift!