Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ground oatmeal is the secret ingredient that makes these Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies one of my favorite indulgences!

The cookie dough is a twist on the famous Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, but with two kinds of chocolate chips plus dried tart cherries.

Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bill had an Aunt Alice who was a treasured family member. She treated our children like grandchildren, and always showed up bearing gifts. Often there would be a Tupperware container full of freshly baked cookies…and her chocolate chip version was chewy, chocolate-laden with her secret addition of ground oatmeal. I loved those gems. These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a riff on Alice’s version.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

After a number of years, I let it slip that Bill will only eat oatmeal for breakfast, another one of his food idiosyncrasies.  Not in cookies, not even as a fruit crisp topping (devastating, I tell you!). Even ground up,  he balked. Alice continued to bake us other treats, but I missed these cookies. So I baked up a batch for all of you today.

Besides semi-sweet chocolate chips, I loaded these up with white chocolate chips and dried tart cherries. My first bite was heavenly: gooey chocolate, chewy cherries with a bit of texture from the ground oats. And I didn’t have to share these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I don’t make him share his breakfast oatmeal with me! A Win-Win for me!

How to Make the Best Oatmeal Cookies

• Start with the best ingredients. Use real butter, real vanilla extract, and some Montmorency dried cherries if you can find them (I love Trader Joe’s version).
• Make sure your baking powder has not expired (this is less often used in baking and often expires before you know it). Baking soda has a longer shelf life.
• Note what kind of oatmeal your recipe calls for before you start baking. There are regular rolled oats, steel-cut oats (coarser and chewier), and quick oats. Since this oatmeal is ground, I use regular rolled oats.
• As with most cookie recipes, have your butter and eggs at room temperature. This makes for easy incorporation.
• I recommend mixing by hand, but if you need to use a mixer, the paddle attachment is the best option. When making cookies, you don’t want to use a whisk attachment as it will incorporate too make air and make the cookies cakey, not chewy.
• Have the dough well mixed before adding in the chocolate and cherries.
• Use a cookie scoop for consistently sized cookies.
• Line your baking sheets with parchment for easy cleanup.
• For chewy cookies, do not over bake. 
• If your cookies don’t bake up perfectly round, using a hot pad and spatula, hold onto the baking sheet with one hand and use the spatula to top the hot cookies into rounds.

This recipe was first shared in July 2014. Photos and text were updated in 2020.

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The Recipe:

Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Yield 36

A yummy oatmeal based cookie filled with chocolate and cherries!

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups oatmeal
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, at room temperatre
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or discs
• 1 cup white chocolate chips of discs
• 1/2 cup dried tart cherries

Instructions

1. Put 2 1/2 cups of oats into a food processor and blend into a powder. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 375º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
4. Stir in flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda.
5. Mix in chocolate chips and dried cherries.
6. Roll into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and place 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

36

Serving Size:

1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 176Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 129mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g

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