Back to trying out one of my rather unusual flavor combinations, this time in the form of finely chopped apricots, the herb taragon (which has a rather licoricey flavor) and olive oil. They are really very good, despite my weird pairings. Would go equally nice with a cup of coffee or tea, or on a cheese plate with some fig jam. Really quite delightful, especially if you aren’t into the overly sweet type of cookie.
Ingredients
1/2 cup dried Turkish apricots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped tarragon leaves
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
In a small bowl, cover the apricots with hot water and let stand for 10 minutes, until they are plump. Transfer the apricots to paper towels to drain. In another small bowl, rub the tarragon leaves into the sugar until they are moist and aromatic.
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter with the tarragon sugar at low speed. Beat in the egg yolk until just combined, about 1 minute. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until smooth. Add the salt and flour and beat until just incorporated. Using a large spatula, fold in the apricots.
Turn the cookie dough out onto a work surface and knead until it just comes together. Divide the dough in half and press each half into a disk. Roll out each disk between 2 sheets of wax paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Slide the wax paper–covered disks onto a baking sheet and freeze for at least 1 hour, until very firm.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Working with one piece of cookie dough at a time, peel off the top sheet of wax paper. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, stamp out the cookies as close together as possible. Arrange the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until they are lightly golden; shift the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
