This four-ingredient recipe reincarnates an apricot crumble into a healthy, no-bake cookie! They are chewy, sweet, and require zero use of the oven.
I certainly don’t do this enough, but every once and a while I take a step back and think about where I was a year ago today. Given that you change so much in your teens and twenties, it shouldn’t be any surprise to me that I feel so different and my life situation is so different year after year! Today, for example. A year ago today I was living on friends’ couches in DC, as I transitioned from the DC office to the SF office for work. My lease was up, and I had already taken a bunch of my stuff home to California, but I was kind of in a waiting zone. I had just gotten back from visiting Nate in Turkey, and he was in Israel by this time. I don’t think we had determined when we were going to see each other next (last June Nate embarked on an 8-month global adventure) and I wasn’t sure if my transfer to SF was going to be approved and I was certainly all over the place emotionally and physically with no home! Well a year later…
A year later we just hosted our housewarming party in our new apartment in San Francisco, and it was amazing to see that in the short time we’ve been here, how many friends we can round up. A year later, Nate isn’t traveling anymore, and is enjoying his snazzy new start up job. A year later, I am loving the SF office that I transferred to and adore my project team. A year later, I have my own home again - no friends couches or living with my parents! (Although both were awesome). I wish I had been able to tell myself a year ago that everything would kind of settle out. And probably even if it didn’t work out as well as it did, there would still be a great change from where I was before, and probably for the better! I don’t consider myself a person that gets stressed out easily, but I definitely look back on last August as a time that I did not recognize that I was actually really stressed out. It took a toll on my eating habits too - when I didn’t have control over my house/transfer/relationship - I became very controlled with my food.
Anyways, the only reason why I started down this path this morning is because there are a few things that remind me of my first visit to Nate, a year ago, during the beginning of his travels. One of the biggest memory triggers is dried fruit. We SUBSISTED off dried fruit in Turkey. Or at least I did. Dried figs and dates and apricots galore! Turkish food is pretty incredible, and they are great at drying just about anything and they take great pride in the fact that they can “stuff” just about anything too - eggplants and grapeleaves, to name a few. I truly have to limit my dried fruit or else I would happily eat it all the time. Something about the texture reminds me of gummy candy! My dad and I used to polish off a bag of twizzlers like it was our jobs growing up. It’s still a father/daughter indulgence to this day.
I know I haven’t talked much about these cookies, but their easy ingredient breakdown and flavors make these a win/win in my book. I love that they hold up really well so you can saran wrap one and bring to work as a snack. They also freeze wonderfully, so just take them out and let thaw a bit before digging in. We had a couple of recipe fails the day I put these together so I was so happy when this turned out well - but it is a foolproof recipe. Hey just thought about this - a year ago, I didn’t have this food blog in this amazing community of food bloggers!
Apologies if you weren’t expecting this ramble today - sometimes I’m inspired by the food I’m writing about and sometimes I go down a completely different path! I write it to you, slightly hungover from our housewarming party, with Nate snoozing away next to me looking like a princess with a sleeping mask on and ear plugs in. I think it’s time to wake him up. If you had told me a year ago that we’d be happily hosting parties in our new apartment in San Francisco, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But I’m so grateful and thankful and at peace now, it seems worth the wait.
- 1 cup dried apricots
- ½ cup raw almonds
- ¼ cup oats
- 2 tbsp softened coconut oil
- 3 tbsp raw honey
- 3 tbsp cinnamon
- Optional: shredded coconut for dusting
- Place all ingredients into the food processor
- Pulse until combined
- Mold into a large ball and cover in saran wrap; place in freezer for 10 minutes
- Remove and for 1½ inch balls and press into a "cookie" shape
- At this point, you can sprinkle a little coconut flakes on top of each
- Store in the fridge!
Note: these are not vegan due to the honey used. I have not tried these using maple syrup instead of honey, but I believe they still would hold up together well.
If you like these, you’ll love: No-Bake Vegan Brownies
Thanks for stopping by! 
