Desserts
Apricot Spice Snickerdoodles
Our apricot spice snickerdoodles recipe riffs off the classic snickerdoodle by incorporating dried apricots and toasted almonds to give the cookies a chewy texture and a nutty flavor. A sweet coating of cinnamon sugar makes these cookies a longtime crowd-pleaser.
Ingredients
TOAST:
WHISK:
ADD:
COMBINE:
Also try this recipe with dried cranberries or dried cherries in place of the dried apricots. The cherries may need to be chopped.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Toast almonds, spread out on a baking sheet, in the preheating oven until fragrant and lightly browned, 8–10 minutes. Remove almonds from the oven.
Whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
Cream butter and 1½ cups sugar in a large bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed, until mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs and almond extract to creamed mixture; beat on low speed until well blended. Add half of the flour mixture; beat on low until ingredients are combined. Add remaining flour, beating only until flour is incorporated into dough.
Fold almonds and apricots into dough until evenly distributed. Cover dough; chill at least 1 hour.
Combine ¼ cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a shallow bowl.
Shape dough into 1½-inch balls. Roll dough balls in the spiced sugar. Transfer cookies to the prepared cookie sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, until edges begin to brown lightly, 12–13 minutes. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Butter should be at room temperature before creaming to give cookie dough a light texture.
Beat together the creamed butter mixture, eggs, and almond extract before adding the flour mixture.
Beating in the flour mixture in two batches allows for more even incorporation into the dough.
Roll balls of dough in spiced sugar to coat, then place them in rows on a lined cookie sheet.