If you’re on the hunt for the ultimate chewy oatmeal cookie with a twist, this is the recipe you need to try. These chewy cherry pecan oatmeal cookies made with hearty rye flour, rich dark chocolate chunks, tart dried sour cherries, crunchy pecans, and an unexpected hint of fresh sage.
These cookies are chewy, complex, and irresistibly delicious, perfect for bakers looking for a unique, bakery-worthy treat!
ingredients you'll need & why
Rye Flour: mixed in with all purpose flour, the rye adds a mild nutty, earthy malty flavor that pairs well with spices, chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit.
Fresh Sage: Adding a bitter note with its woody and peppery profile, this herb blends nicely with the brown sugar, cherries and ginger in the cookie dough.
Bitter-Sweet Dark Chocolate: Rough chopped chunks of 66% Cacao falls right in between bittersweet and semisweet. The key is to balance out the sugar in the recipe with more bitterness, but just enough sweetness to mingle with the sage and sour cherries.
Sour Dried Cherries: Referred to as either dried sour or dried tart cherries, these little beauties enhance the flavor complexity. Just a slight rough chop is needed, as they are a bit larger than Thompson raisins. Cherries provide an extra chew and a sour tang to the nutty sweetness of the cookie.
Pecans: Sweet and buttery pecans pieces combine perfectly with the flavors of sage, chocolate and cherries. The butteriness develops as they roast in the oven blending into the oatmeal dough. Pecans also give that much needed crunch to the melted chocolate and chewiness of the fruit.
How to Make Cherry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies
- Mix the dry ingredients: Stir flours, baking soda, spices, sage, and salt together in a large bowl.
- Cream butter + sugars: Using either a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream together both sugars with softened butter.
- Add eggs + vanilla: Mix in the eggs until smooth, then the vanilla to combine.
- Combine: Spoon the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, while mixing on low.
- Add the extras: Beat in the chocolate, cherries, and pecans on low to form a thick sticky dough.
- Scoop + Roll: Scoop dough with large cookie scoop and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cookie dough for 1 hour. Gently roll between hands to create nice cookie dough ball.
- Bake: Bake the cookies one tray at a time at 375°F (180°C) for 13-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The cookies centers will look slightly underbaked, but they will firm up a the cookies cool. Slightly soft centers is what makes a chewy oatmeal cookie.
Helpful Tips
Weigh Your Ingredients:
My recipes are all tested by weighing ingredient in grams to be the most accurate. By using a kitchen scale, your recipe will turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. This is the kitchen scale I use everyday.
Baking Pan
Make sure the baking pan is cool before adding the cold cookie dough.
Bake one tray of oatmeal cookies at a time on the middle rack. If your oven is big enough for two trays, swap positions halfway through.
If you use the same parchment paper for several batches, flip it over between cookie batches.
Reshape Cookies if Needed
Cookies should retain a roundish shape. If a cookie has a slightly misshapen appearance when you remove the baking pan from the oven, while it's still warm gently push any uneven edges back carefully with a spatula. The cookie will then cool in the newly adjusted shape.
Use your favorite nuts: Walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts can easily be swapped for the pecans.
storage & leftovers
- Store baked pecan oatmeal cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze cookies in airtight freezer safe bags for up to 3 months.
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Chewy Cherry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- In a medium bowl hand whisk together the all purpose flour, rye flour, oats, salt, baking soda, fresh sage, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.188 grams (1 ½ cups) all purpose flour51 grams (½ cup) dark rye flour240 grams (3 cups) old fashioned oats1 teaspoon baking soda2 teaspoons fresh sage½ teaspoon ground nutmeg½ teaspoon ground ginger¼ teaspoon ground cloves½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed for 1-2 minutes to form a paste. You can also use a large bowl with a hand mixer. The stand mixer is easier since this is a thicker cookie dough.220 grams (1 cup) dark brown sugar100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter
- Next, one at a time mix in the vanilla bean paste and the two eggs. You may need to take a rubber spatula and scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is mixing properly.2 large eggs1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
- Lower the mixing speed to medium low. Then, slowly spoon in your flour and oats mixture until a cookie dough begins to form.
- Flour an oats may fall to the bottom of the bowl while the cookie dough clings to the paddle and sides of the bowl. Take the rubber spatula and scrape the dough from the paddle and sides back into the center of the bowl. Do a little bottom and sides scrape, then mix again on medium speed so everything is incorporated.
- Now add in the fillings one at a time. With the mixer on medium low sprinkle in the chocolate for a couple spins, then the pecans, and finally the cherries for a couple spins. If you’re using a hand mixer, add one then mix and then add the others. No need to over mix the dough, just a spin or two for even distribution.85 grams (2 ounces) bittersweet 66% cacao dark chocolate38 grams (⅓ cup) pecans64 grams (½ cup) dried sour cherries
- This is a thick and hearty cookie dough. It is softest right after mixing. Measuring out the cookie dough balls should be done before the dough is chilled in the fridge.
- Take a large cookie dough scoop that holds 3 tablespoons of batter and scoop out the cookie dough into even balls. A small rubber spatula can help with getting the dough out of the cookie scoop.
- Measure out all the dough into equal size balls and place them on a parchment paper lined rimmed baking pan or air tight container. Loosely cover the baking pan with plastic wrap or place lid on top of the container.
- For the best flavor the cookie dough needs to rest in the fridge. The cold fridge will also firm the butter as the dough chills preventing the cookies from spreading too much while baking.
- Place the cookie dough in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour before baking. Chilling the dough for more than 2 hours will allow more flavor to develop.
- Once dough is properly rested and chilled, prepare a rimmed baking pan with two layers of parchment paper or a silicone mat with one layer of parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃).
- Place 6 cookie dough balls on the baking pan, spacing them about 2-inches apart.
- Transfer the baking pan to the middle rack of the oven and bake for 13-14 minutes.
- The cookies are baked with the edges are golden brown, the top is lightly golden and the center is still soft.
- Remove the tray from the oven and place it on a wire cooling rack for about 5 minutes. The cookies will continue to cook in the center on the pan and firm as they cool. Don't over bake them!
- Transfer the mostly cooled cookies directly onto a wire rack using a flat spatula to finish cooling.
- Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
Notes
- Store baked cookies in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
- Freeze cookies in airtight freezer safe bags for up to 3 months.
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