Nourishing Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick and chewy Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies with amazing almond flavor and hearty oatmeal for the best sweet treat. One bowl and no chilling required. Kids love these irresistible cookies! Top with flaky salt for added pizazz.

Do we not all need a plate o' cookies right about now? I know I do. These gorgeous cherry cookies are sublime. Happy Valentine's day to meeee!

These gems were inspired by my Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (which use peanut butter and coconut for an unforgettable cookie) and Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies. A must make!

The chew. The crisp edges. The buttery, almondy, chocolate cherry kissed flavor. Sheer texture and taste bliss.

Ingredients

• Almond butter: You want creamy, drippy almond butter with just "roasted almonds" as the ingredients. Kirkland brand from Costco is my fave! You can also use tahini, cashew butter or peanut butter, but the nut butter flavor will be noticeable in the cookie with peanut butter. Almond butter goes great with the cherries!
• Butter: Unsalted butter for classic cookie flavor. Use vegan butter to make these vegan or dairy free and reduce salt to ¼ tsp.
• Coconut sugar: I love this unrefined, caramel tasting low-glycemic sugar. You can totally use brown sugar instead.
• Flour: Unbleached all purpose flour. You could use whole wheat pastry flour or gluten free 1:1 all purpose baking flour.
• Oats: I love the chewiness that old fashioned oats add. You could also use quick-cooking oats but they'll have less of a bite. Love a snack made with oats!
• Vanilla + almond extract: Flavor town! You ca omit almond extract if you're not a fan of that flavor.
• Dried cherries: Sour cherries that are sweetened add chewy sweet-tart flavor that is SO yum in these cookies! You could also use dried cranberries or pecans, or even omit them.
• Chocolate chips: I love dark chocolate chips or chunks here! Semi sweet is great, too.

How to make

Would you believe these take less than 20 minutes to make and just one bowl? I swear!

1. Beat the softened butter, almond butter, and coconut sugar with a hand or stand mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Add egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat for 20 seconds.
3. Add flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Beat until no flour is visible, then fold in cherries and chocolate.
4. Bake and devour!

Tips for the best cookies

1. Use room temperature ingredients. I like to let the butter sit on the oven while it's preheating if I forget to get it out in advance. You can also put the egg in a bowl of warm water to get it to room temp quickly!
2. Measure flour correctly. Spoon and level the flour into the measuring cup (these are my favorite ever) versus packing it in to make sure you're using the correct amount of flour.
3. Cream like a boss. When I say light and fluffy, I mean it. You really do need to mix for a full two minutes to get the butter and sugar all incorporated and fluffy.
4. Use high quality ingredients: Great ingredients, great flavor, ya dig? I love unbleached flour from King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill, yummy semi sweet chocolate chips, and a nice vanilla extract (no imitation vanilla, people!).

Which cherries to use?

Dried tart or sour cherries, which come sweetened, are perfect here. You may also see them as Montmorency tart cherries.

I haven't tried these with fresh sweet cherries or maraschino cherries, but I think they may contain too much liquid so best to stick to dried for this recipe.

How to store

These will stay fresh in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 5 days.

Can I freeze the dough?

Indeed you can! Simply freeze the smooth dough balls on a lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the cookie dough to a freezer-safe baggie and store for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen and add 2 minutes to the baking time.

More delish cookie recipes

• Vegan Cookie Dough
• Healthy Snickerdoodles
• Healthy Monster Cookies
• Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

If you make these oatmeal cherry chocolate chip cookies, please let me know by leaving a comment and star rating. I’m so grateful for your feedback!

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