Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I hadn’t made cookies in weeks, when a mad cookie dough craving hit. These Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies with walnuts and dried tart cherries became a delicious reality! And I got to lick the bowl!

These Chocolate Chunk Cookies were a tasty change of pace from simple chocolate chip cookies. The larger bits of chocolate, crunchy nuts, and chewy dried cherries pushed these over the top!

Why You Must Make

Last weekend, Nick graduated from Indiana University. I happened to meet up with a friend for tea and she shared her menu for a post-grad picnic lunch on campus. My plans for ham sandwiches and Oreos (well, I probably would have raised the bar a bit!) bit the dust.

• Instead, I baked these fabulous oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies and planned to make a favorite fruit salad and chicken salad on croissants. I’ll share the whole experience later this week.
• Something with chocolate was definitely in order and these cookies were portable, full of semisweet chocolate, dried cherries, oatmeal, and toasted walnuts, plus they were delish.
• You can easily tweak these using dark chocolate, raisins, pecans or any of your favorite cookie add-ins!

Ingredient Notes

• Kitchen Staples – Flour, Sugar, Baking Soda, Salt, Ground Cinnamon
• Dark Brown Sugar – More caramel undertones than regular brown sugar. PRO-Tip: If you don’t have any dark brown sugar on hand, for each cup you need, you can mix 1 cup of regular brown sugar with a tablespoon of mild molasses and use as directed.
• Butter – I used salted. Have it at room temperature for easy blending.
• Eggs – I always use large eggs unless otherwise noted in the recipe. Have at room temperature for easy incorporation.
• Real Vanilla Extract – Never use imitation as the flavor is inferior. I prefer the Nielsen-Massey brand.
• Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats – Adds more bulk and texture to the cookies than Quick Oats.
• Walnuts – Toast them by gently heating in a skillet, stirring frequently, to bring out their essential oils (AKA flavor). Cool, then chop.
• Dried Cherries – I find these at Trader Joe’s.
• Semisweet Chocolate – I use Ghirardelli bars, chopped into chunks

Tips for Making Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

• I after I added the chocolate to the cookie dough, I removed half of it to make plain ol’ Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies. I knew Nick and his roomies were more likely to eat anything homemade than the picky hubby, so I added the toasted walnuts and cherries to the rest.
• I’m not a huge fan of raisins, but I could eat dried tart cherries (affiliate link) by the handful. You can add raisins instead if you’d like.
• PRO-Tip: Use bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet if you enjoy dark chocolate. Chocolate chips can also be substituted for the chocolate chunks.
• PRO-Tip: Make sure to mix your cookie dough by hand or gently with a hand mixer. The goal is not to incorporate air into the dough as then your cookies will be flat and crisp instead of puffed and chewy.
• If nobody ate the amped-up cookies, I’d be happy to pick up the slack. I should not have worried; these were winners!

Frequently Asked Questions

You May Also Like:

• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Food Charlatan
• Rum Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Triple Chocolate Cookies
• More of my Best Cookie Recipes

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Print

The Recipe:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Yield 4 dozen

Perfect oatmeal cookies full of chocolate chunks, dried cherries and toasted walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups flour
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• ¾ cup walnuts, toasted chopped, optional
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
2. By hand (I use a wooden spoon) or in a stand mixer fit with the paddle beater, mix together the sugars with the softened butter until completely blended.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time to form a smooth batter. Mix in the vanilla, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
4. Add the flour and mix till just incorporated. Fold in the oatmeal, cherries, and chocolate till combined.
5. Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1 ½ tablespoons) place mounds of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
6. Then bake till edges start to brown and centers look set, 10-12 minutes. Mine took 10 minutes and I pulled them out when the very center looked underbaked.
7. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Notes

Recipe adapted from THE KITCHN COOKBOOK by Sara Kate Gillingham and Faith Durand via Lights on Bright, No Brakes.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Non-Stick Parchment Paper, 25 Sheet, 4 Count
• 
  USA Pan Bakeware Half Sheet Pan
• 
  OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

2 cookies
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 218Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 137mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 3g

HOW MUCH DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?

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Consider using pasteurized eggs if you’re a cookie dough lover like I am. The process of pasteurization kills any salmonella bacteria and prevents a food-borne illness that could result from ingesting raw eggs.