Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies

Semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate combined with dried cherries and apricots make these Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies double delicious. 

Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies

The story behind Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies

A printer-friendly recipe card can be found at the bottom of this post

I got the idea for Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies from my favorite caterer, Goldie Schultz, who runs Goldilocks’ Catering, “Where Everything is Just Right!” in Aspen Meadow, Colorado; at least that’s what she does when she’s not solving murders, as she is prone to do in Diane Mott Davidson’s culinary mystery series. I love reading a good fun mystery, and if you throw some food ideas at me at the same time, I think that’s a win-win.  I really enjoy this series of books.  If you like mysteries, and food, I highly recommend you start and the beginning of the series and eat, I mean, read your way through them.  They are deliciously entertaining.

Chuck full of Healthy Ingredients – Right?

I’m not going to go so far as to say these cookies are healthy, but we all know that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, has health benefits.  And these cookies have both semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate in them so, healthy.  Right?

And oatmeal, we know that oatmeal is good for us.  Oatmeal is in the cookies.  So again healthy, right?

Right.

Tree nuts = healthy.

I used almonds in these, but you could use walnuts, hazelnuts or pecan pieces,  All are good healthy nuts. Just make sure that you toast whichever nut you decide to put into them for full rich flavor. And of course, if you don’t feel like a nut, omit them.

My favorite method of measuring drop cookies 

Dried fruit = nature’s candy.

I modified the recipe in the book by adding two kinds of dried fruits, dried sweet cherries, and dried apricots.  Taking a slightly different approach I cut these into smaller pieces so you wouldn’t get a big old cherry in your mouth, cutting those in half and then cutting the apricots into pieces about the same size as the cherries. Nature’s candy is … healthy.

And then comes the butter.  I used half unsalted butter and half mild olive oil.  So 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup olive oil.  That cuts the saturated fats in half.  Again, a healthy change up …

And finally, I put 1 tablespoon of orange zest into the mix.  Oranges = healthy.

Healthy? Well, I’ve given you a lot of evidence that they are, so you can make your own argument.

But defiantly delicious.

Note: These cookies, as originally written, can be found in Diane Mott Davidson’s book Tough Cookie as Chocolate Coma Cookies.

Yield: 6 dozen

Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies

Print

Semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate combined with dried cherries and apricots make these Double Delights Chocolate Chip Fruit Cookies double delicious. 

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Total Time 29 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup toasted slivered almonds (or walnut, hazelnut or pecan pieces)
• 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate bar, chopped into pieces about the size of the semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 12 ounces (1 bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried sweet cherries, cut into halves (easiest to cut dried fruits with a pair of scissors rather than a knife due to their sticky nature )
• 1/2 cup dried apricot pieces, cut the same size as the cherry pieces
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mild olive oil, or other vegetable oil
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

Instructions

Step 1

Heat the oven to 350°F. ( I used convection bake at 325°F ) 

Place the oats in a large bowl, sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; mix together. Add the dried fruits and nuts, toss together until the fruit is all covered with the flour, this will help ensure the fruits disperse into the final batter and not stick altogether. Put the chocolate chunks and chips together in a small bowl. 

Step 2

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the oil ( it will separate and look really ugly, but don't worry, it will all work out ensure the end ). Add the sugars and mix until fluffy, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla (I generally add my vanilla to my eggs, so I don't miss adding the vanilla). Beat until well combined, about 1 minute.

Step 3

Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the flour/oats mixture; beat until combined, about 1 minute, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the chocolate chunks/chips. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Step 4

Using a tablespoon scoop, place the cookies on parchment-lined cookies sheets leaving 2 inches between each scoop. Bake 12 - 14 minutes, or until the cookies have set and are slightly flattened and light brown in color. (For me, 14 minutes was the perfect time, but check the first batch at 12 to see how your oven is doing). Allow the cookies to rest on the cookie sheet for 2 - 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

72

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 119Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 44mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gProtein: 2g

Nutritional values may not be 100% accurate

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