chocolate dipped apricot cookies

i'm not one to ever watch the better homes and gardens daytime tv show, but i happened to catch a segment about christmas cookies last week. maybe it was because i was in the middle of a 3-mile treadmill run at the y, but these sonsaguns looked good. so i picked up the ingredients & made them today. i'm also not one to use baking shortcuts, but the recipe called for a package of betty crocker sugar cookie mix, so i obliged.  what can i say, the holidays make us do crazy things.

you can watch the segment here, or just follow this recipe:

Dark Chocolate Apricot Cookies

ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

1/4 tsp orange extract

1 package betty crocker sugar cookie mix

1 cup chopped dried apricots

12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

method:

• preheat oven to 375.
• combine cookie mix, butter, orange extract and egg w/ a mixer until soft. 
• fold in apricots
• scoop out (big teaspoon sized balls) onto cookie sheet and bake until golden, about 8-10 minutes. 
• cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• when the cookies are cool, melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring a few times.  dip in chocolate and place on a sheet of wax or parchment paper 

while taking these cookie pictures, i realized that they kinda look like moppy-haired boys. and because i have nothing better to do with my time (thanks, 10-day work break!) i photoshopped faces onto the cookies. they kinda remind me of my husband.

cookie boys