DRIED FRUIT COOKIES

DRIED FRUIT COOKIES
Weekend is here (for me sometimes it starts from Friday) and it was time for me to stock my pantry with goodies for the week. I used to prepare plain cookies or sometimes oatmeal raisin cookies. I had a packet of dried fruits lying some quite sometime in the fridge and was looking for a recipe to incorporate them and hence this recipe. The taste of this cookie was real good with a little bit tartness from the dried fruits which went along pretty well with the sweetness from the cookie. I have used dried apples, apricots, and pears here. If needed, any other fruits like raisins can also be used.

INGREDIENTS:
All-purpose flour, 1 cup.
Dried fruits, ½ cup.
Sugar, ½ cup.
Salt, a pinch.
Unsalted butter, ½ stick.
Egg, 1 (optional).
Vanilla essence, a few drops.
Baking soda ¼ teaspoon.
Baking powder, 2/3 teaspoon.

PREPARATION:
Sift in the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt together. Melt the butter and add them to a bowl. Break an egg into the bowl and beat the egg along with the butter. Add the sugar now and keep beating until a creamy consistency is obtained. Add the sifted flour slowly and keep mixing and until a dough is formed. Make small lemon-sized balls from the dough. Spray a baking sheet with any nonstick spray. Place the dough balls on the baking sheet and gently press them into small cookies. Sufficient space should be left between each cookie. Bake them at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 250 and bake them for 5 minutes. Take the baking dish out of the oven and let the cookies cool and enjoy.