Another forage into the pantry resulted in the remainder of dried apricots, rolled oats, and carob. The carob ensures that they’re not too sweet, and the pecans give them a rich, decadent texture. I am a person who needs their cookie-fix post-lunch or post-dinner, but I am constantly looking for ways to avoid the guilt. In this case, I at least added healthful ingredients like pecans, dried fruit, oats, and whole wheat flour… so they can’t be that bad…

Ingredients: 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 3/4 stick butter softened, 1 cup toasted pecans, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1 cup organic light brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp organic pure vanilla extract, 1 cup Carob chips, 1/4 cup 60% dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup dried apricots diced

Recipe: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Give the toasted pecans a rough chop. In a small bowl, whisk together the oats, flours, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until light. Break the eggs into a separate bowl to ensure that no shell gets into the mixture, then add the eggs to the butter mixture. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture. When the ingredients are evenly incorporated, mix in the pecans, chocolate chips and carob chips, and the dried apricots.

Spoon tablespoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 17 minutes or until golden. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Melissa Rubel Jacobson