Once in a while I’ll brave the deep confines of my pantry closet to see what’s lurking behind the beans and the sugar. If I’m feeling especially brave, I might even peek around the shelves in the refrigerator door, where, for some reason, I tend to stick items I haven’t had a need for since 2008. Recipes sometimes call for ingredients I will be hard-pressed to find a use for again, and while I try to steer clear of these specific items, I always manage to find a few in these deep confines that need resuscitating. Out came the half-eaten bag of organic dried apricots and half-used bag of white chocolate chunks. Here’s what became of my cupboard clean-out:

Ingredients: 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, pinch of salt, one grind of freshly ground pepper, 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened, 2.5 tablespoons grapeseed oil, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 2 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup dried apricots chopped into small pieces, 1/2 cup white chocolate chunks (instead of of the chips which don’t break down as easily), 1/2 cup lightly toasted unsalted almonds, chopped. 

Recipe: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan and then cover with parchment paper, allowing a small bit to overhang. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper to combine. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter with the brown sugar, vanilla, and grapeseed oil until well combined. Add the egg and beat until smooth. At the lowest speed, mix in the apricots, chocolate chips, and almonds. Finally, add the dry ingredients little by little, slowly incorporating it into the mixture. If you add all of the dry ingredients at once, it won’t beat in as smoothly and the mixture will get very dry. 

Scrape the dough into the pan and smooth the top to make it even. Bake for about 45-50 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out moist but basically clean. Let it cool completely in the pan. Remove from the pan by grabbing the overhanging pieces of the parchment paper (it should slide out easily if you buttered the bottom.) Place onto a cutting board and cut into 2 inch squares.