Oatmeal Cherry Cookies

Oatmeal Cherry Cookies with White Chocolate will rock your taste buds.  Sweet, tart, and chewy nuances in every bite!

These out-of-this-world Cherry Cookies with dried cherries and a touch of almond extract make these oatmeal cookies irresistible.

Why You Must Make

• The addition of dried tart cherries adds both texture and a delightful flavor.
• A touch of almond extract enhances the cherry flavor.
• Adding rich, creamy white chocolate provides another stellar texture.

OK, there is no way to make these brown cookies look as amazing as they taste; just trust me; they are chewy and delicious with incredible flavor!  I’m a huge fan of oatmeal cookies and adding dried tart cherries and white chocolate chunks has got to be my best version ever.

Since the hubby and daughter poo-poo oatmeal in their desserts, I went ahead and added my favorites to the batter plus just a touch of almond extract to bring out the cherry flavor. This oatmeal cookie recipe is sensational!!

Ingredient Notes:

• Kitchen Staples – All-purpose flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking Soda, Eggs
• Baking Powder – Check the expiration date. Unlike baking soda, baking powder expires before you can deplete your supply. See how to test it below.
• Butter – I use salted butter in all my baking. I decrease the amount of salt as needed.
• Shortening – Replacing some of the butter with shortening helps cookies from baking up too flat.
• Dark-brown sugar – You can make your own dark brown sugar by adding some molasses to regular brown sugar. See above for the ratio needed. Because of the molasses in brown sugar, it makes for moist cookies.
• Vanilla – Use REAL vanilla extract, never artificially flavored vanilla.
• Almond extract – Almonds and cherries are closely related so the almond extract plays up the flavor of cherries in recipes. A little goes a long way!
• Old fashioned Rolled Oats – Do not use Quick oats as the heartier texture of rolled oats is wonderful in this recipe.
• Dried Tart Cherries (affiliate link)- I use Trader Joe’s Tart Montmorency Cherries
• White Chocolate – Use either white chocolate bars and chop into chip-sized pieces or white chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli brand for both).

Expert Tips

• PRO-Tip: If you don’t have dark brown sugar on hand there’s a simple way to make it at home. To make your own dark brown sugar,  just mix 1 tablespoon of molasses into a cup of light brown sugar until it’s well incorporated.
• Cookies made with all butter tend to spread. I used a butter/shortening combination in this recipe to minimize the spreading, but feel free to use all butter if you have objections to baking with shortening.
• If your dried cherries look like they’ve dried up, you can plump them by soaking them in some very hot water. After they’ve rehydrated, let them drain on paper towels to remove any excess moisture before using.
• When mixing cookie dough, do not overbeat after the flour is added. That will create cakey instead of chewy cookies.
• PRO-Tip: Cookie dough loaded with ingredients doesn’t always bake into perfectly round cookies even if you use a cookie disher and roll the dough into balls before baking. If you want a bakery-worthy appearance for a special occasion, carefully tap the edges when they’re hot out of the oven to nudge them into nice rounds, then let them finish cooling.
• If you don’t want to chop white chocolate to make chunks, just use white chocolate chips.
• Substitute semisweet or bittersweet chocolate for white chocolate if desired.
• You can use raisins or even craisins (dried cranberries) instead of dried cherries!
• If you don’t have almond extract, you can always leave it out.
• Drizzle with some melted white chocolate to up the ante!!

Frequently Asked Questions

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• Chewy Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• More of the Best Cookie Recipes

Continue to Content

Print

The Recipe:

Oatmeal, Dried Cherry, White Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 32 minutes

Yield 36 cookies

Oatmeal, Dried Cherry and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies will rock your taste buds!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup dark-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not Quick oats)
• 2 cups dried tart cherries
• 4 ounces white chocolate (chopped) or white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. With a hand mixer, beat the butter, shortening, and sugars until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to incorporate.
4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing on low speed to combine.
5. Stir in the oats, dried cherries, and white chocolate chunks.
6. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between cookies.
7. Bake until edges are just turning brown and the center looks slightly underdone about 12 minutes. Cool a couple of minutes on the baking sheet, then remove a cooling rack.

Notes

May use either white chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.

You may substitute raisins or Craisins for the dried cherries.

Recommended Products

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

• 
  Black Spatula
• 
  Reynolds Cookie Baking Sheets Non-Stick Parchment Paper, 25 Sheet, 4 Count
• 
  USA Pan Bakeware Half Sheet Pan

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

36

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 138Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 93mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 10gProtein: 2g

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