Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (with cherries)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies made with brown sugar, cinnamon, along with chunks of dried cherries and dark chocolate chips. Nostalgic childhood cookies with a few swaps to make delicious cherry chocolate oatmeal cookies.

What makes an oatmeal cookie chewy?

Brown sugar is the key ingredient for a softer chewier cookie! The high moisture content provided by the dark brown sugar coupled with a shorter baking time, yields fabulous chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

🌿 Ingredients You'll Need

• European Style Butter is what I HIGHLY recommend for rich bakery-style flavor. European butter (also known as cultured with 82% butterfat) adds so much more depth to your cookie.
  • Look for brands such as Plugra, Vermont Creamery, Kerrygold or Cabot which state 82% butterfat. If you can’t get your hands on some, it’s OK to substitute with standard unsalted butter (the texture may not be quite as tender with standard butter).
• Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate will work for these cookies. Dark chocolate is the bitter contrast needed for the cookie dough’s sugary sweetness. I prefer to chop quality dark chocolate bars into small chunks as it disperses little chocolate flecks throughout the dough. Baking chocolate chips will also work too.
• Dried Cherries are replace the classic raisins used in oatmeal cookies to create a new flavor profile of chocolate covered cherries.
• Dark Brown Sugar creates a softer chewy texture and adds subtle caramel and toffee notes from the added molasses.
• Granulated Sugar gives structure and sweetness. By using a blend of two kinds of sugar the final cookie is perfectly balanced.
• All Purpose Flour at 11% protein creates a lovely tender cookie crumb.
• Vanilla Bean or Pure Vanilla Extract to enhance the cookie dough flavor with classic vanilla notes.
• Pure Almond Extract gives a subtle sweet nutty flavor that brings this cookie to life.
• Cinnamon and Nutmeg spice blend creates the perfect nostalgic oatmeal cookie flavor.

Tips for Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

• Dark Brown Sugar and Light Brown Sugar can be swapped interchangeably.
• Maple Syrup can be swapped for honey or molasses.
• Use room temperature unsalted butter. If you're in a hurry, simply microwave 2 sticks of butter for about 15 seconds.
• Cookie dough can be made the day before and stored in the fridge.
• Store baked cookies in an air tight container for up to 1 week.
• Freeze cookie dough balls in air tight freezer safe container for up to three months. Frozen cookie dough balls may take a couple extra minutes to bake in the oven.

Oatmeal Cookie Mix-Ins

If you love different flavors of oatmeal cookies swap the mix-ins for your favorite toppings or mix and match! I love cherry chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, but you can easily add nuts or raisins. Make sure the total measurement of extra goodies equals to 1 cup. Below are some ideas!

• Dried Apricots
• Golden Raisins
• Thompson Raisins
• Dried Cherres
• Dried Cranberries
• Chocolate Chips or Chunks
• White Chocolate Chips
• Butterscotch chips
• Chopped Walnuts, Pecans, Peanuts

Adjusting the Spices

Swap out the cinnamon for pumpkin spice. Or add in a little extra cinnamon with a teaspoon of nutmeg and a ¼ teaspoon cloves. Play with the flavors to fit your personal tastes.

Why do you Chill Cookie Dough before Baking?

Chilling cookie dough before baking helps to solidify the fat, aka the butter in this recipe. With the butter being cold and firmer, it keeps the cookies from spreading out too much while baking. The sugars in the dough gradually absorb the liquid of the fat as it melts. If the cookie dough is room temperature right before baking, the cookies will be flat and thin.

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