If you love cherries and chocolate, you’ll love my Dark Chocolate Chip and Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies. These cookies are the perfect marriage of a traditional chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookie minus the raisins.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
I love chocolate and cherries together. They are a match made in heaven. But even more perfect than chocolate and cherries together are cookies that feature them together.
Not only are these cookies super tasty, but they are also ever so slightly more healthy for you because they feature whole wheat flour and oats. I will talk about the health benefits of oats later on. If you are scared of using wheat flour, you don’t need to be! I’ll show you how to pick the right flour for your cookies
Ingredients
- Butter - Cookies just don’t taste the same without that butter flavor!
- Olive Oil
- Brown and Granulated Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Old Fashioned Oats - I prefer the texture of these over instant oats
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Milk
- Dried Cherries
- Dark Chocolate Chips - another healthier addition
How to Make Them
Start by preheating your oven and preparing your baking sheets. I like to cover my baking sheets with parchment paper to make cleanup easier. Combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl, mixing until fluffy. In a second bowl, combine your dry ingredients. Combine the two, mixing gently.
Carefully add your chocolate chips, dried cherries, and optional nuts. You can fold them into the mixture with a spatula or just gently stir them in.
I recommend that you only make as many as you want to eat that day. You could freeze the cookie dough in balls for making later. They’ll keep for as long as a month.
I like to use a portion scoop to keep my cookies consistent. Using a portion scoop, I scoop 12 balls of dough onto a cookie sheet in a 4x3 grid. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes before eating.
Health Benefits of Oats
Oats are a very well-balanced part of a nutritious diet. Because they are well-balanced they tend to help you feel fuller longer and regulate blood sugar.
Additionally, oats have a ton of vitamins and minerals in them, making them a great nutritional choice. Oats have B vitamins, iron, and zinc just to name a few. Oats are also known to be great for cholesterol. These heart-healthy grains are perfect for raising good cholesterol and lowering the bad.
Notes
- You can make these cookies using a one bowl method. I do this by adding my flour on top of the butter mixture. I then add my baking soda and salt on top of the flour and just stir the top layer of flour, baking soda, and salt together. Then I stir everything in the bowl together to combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Whole Wheat Flour is a great option for healthier desserts. You can use a whole wheat pastry flour to get the most out of your baking. I like to use a mill to grind my own. My favorite is Farm Fresh Wheat.
- You can add nuts. I like to add nuts to these cookies. My favorite nuts to add are pecans. You can choose whatever nuts are your favorite. Walnuts would also taste great!
Sure. You can use a semi-sweet chocolate chip, milk chocolate, or even white chocolate if you prefer. I prefer dark chocolate for its many health benefits, but you can tailor these cookies to your taste.
If you don’t really like cherries or can’t find them readily available, you can always substitute another fruit. While raisins aren’t my favorite, you could add those if you prefer them.
Can I use all-purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour?
You sure can! I like the health benefits of wheat flour, but not everyone enjoys it. You can use all-purpose flour instead to make the perfect cookie for you!
More Cookie Options
Are you looking for other cookie options? I have a few I would love to share!!
- These stamped gingerbread cookies are popular right now!
- Lemon cookies with lemon drizzle are also a big hit!
- I personally really love these chocolate chip cookies with pretzels and caramel. They are a classic with a fun twist!
- Carrot Cake Cookies always rank high on the blog!
Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick softened butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ½-1 cup dark chocolate chips You can use any other chocolate you prefer!
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.Combine butter,oil, brown sugar and sugar in large mixing bowl. Beat for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix to combine.In separate bowl mix oats, flours, baking soda and salt. You can also use a one-bowl method which I love to do. What you do is add your oats and flour on top of the butter mixture. On the top of the flour, add your baking soda and salt. Carefully mix this only on the top of the flour. From here is mixed enough to go! Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until they come together. To this add dried cherries, chocolate chips and pecans if using. Combine completely, but again don't overmix.Scoop dough onto parchment lined baking sheet. I did 12 cookies per sheet, in a 3x4 pattern. Bake as many cookies as you want that day. If you aren't baking that day, scoop the remaining onto a baking sheet, lined close together. Place in the freezer. Once the balls are frozen, place in a freezer ziplock bag. They stay good for at least a month this way. When you are ready to bake, remove from freezer, place on baking sheet, allow to thaw, and bake. I like to bake mine fro 8-10 minutes. You will want the cookies to be very lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack. You can eat them warm out of the oven, but I recommend waiting just a few more minutes. If they are cooled slightly it helps the cookies to hold together better. It is this way with all whole wheat cookies, then tend to fall apart a little more than all-purpose cookies. Now, sit back and enjoy. You certainly deserve it!
Viki says
Omg Amy, made these this morning and they are the BEST! My new go-to cookie! Ty, ty, ty
admin says
Awesome Viki!! I love them!