I recently have been reading Amish murder mysteries by Linda Castillo- in every single book the detective visits an Amish home and oatmeal cookies are put out with coffee. I crave oatmeal cookies each time I read her books. I decided to make my own- but add in some things that will make them really stand out. This cookie recipe is something that has taken me multiple trial and error attempts. At first they were too sweet, then they spread out too much, then they didn't rise enough. Finally, I was able to balance all of the ingredients to make them perfect. These are NOT a sweet cookie- if you prefer a sweet cookie I would recommend subbing the dark chocolate chips for milk chocolate and adding an extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar.
Start by getting all of your ingredients together and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Ideally your oven maintains temperature for at least 10 minutes before you add your first batch of cookies. Cream the butter and shortening. Next add the spices, salt, baking soda and brown sugar.
Add the flour until just combined. Next, using a rubber spatula by hand mix in the oats, chocolate chips and cherries. Scoop out using cookie scooper 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, and then transfer to wire rack and let cool. Enjoy!
Dark Chocolate and Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup dark chocolate chips
¾ cup dried cherries
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and shortening until well combined. Add brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat until well combined- making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go. Beat in eggs one at a time, and vanilla. Add flour until just combined. Add oats, dark chocolate and cherries and incorporate with a rubber spatula.
3. Using a cookie scoop place cookie dough about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool.
***If you like a sweeter cookie bump the brown sugar up to 1 1/2 cups and use milk chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate chips!