Pumpkin-Apricot Cookies

Save the Pumpkins: Two Spooky (but Sweet and Savoury) Recipes!
From zombies to fairies… only Louise Gagnon, author of Sous le charme des courges et des citrouilles, could concoct such delicious and creative recipes.

Ingredients

175 ml (3/4 cup) or 100 g whole-wheat flour
125 (1/2 cup) or 65 g unbleached, all-purpose white flour, sifted
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
125 ml (1/2 cup) dried apricots, finely chopped
125 ml (1/2 cup) walnuts
80 ml (1/3 cup) white chocolate chips
60 ml (1/4 cup) softened butter
125 ml (1/2 cup) brown sugar
180 ml (3/4 cup) pumpkin purée*
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Zest of ½ orange

Preparation

Place the rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat a conventional oven to 190°C (375°F) or a convection oven to 180°C (350°F).
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dried apricots, walnuts and white chocolate chips. Set aside.
In a mixer, cream the butter and gradually add the brown sugar and blend to a light consistency. Add the pumpkin purée, egg, vanilla and orange zest. Mix well. Fold in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Pumpkin purée

You will need 500 g of whole pumpkin to get 250 ml of purée, so for this recipe, you will need a pumpkin that weighs at least 360 g.
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and fibrous interior.
Cook in the oven, with the cut side laying on a cookie sheet, at 190°C (375°F), until the flesh is tender when you poke it through the skin with a knife (approximately 30 to 40 minutes).
Let it cool, scrape off the flesh and run it through a food processer.

Preparation

20 minutes

Cooking

15 minutes

Servings

40 cookies