Chocolate and Cherry Oatmeal Cookies perfectly balance sweet chocolate chunks, tart cherries, and a dusting of sea salt into a comforting oatmeal cookie that anyone can appreciate.
When it comes to cookie preferences, you have the Chocolate Chip Cookie crowd, and the much smaller (but vocal) minority who prefers Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
We’re not here to pick a side, but rather to unite the cookie loving masses with this one cookie recipe.
These chocolate chip cherry oatmeal cookies give the CCC lovers all the sweet melty chocolate and chewy dough they love, while providing the ORC faithful with the hearty rolled oats and brown sugar that speaks to their souls.
Did we leave out the raisins? Yes. But hold on! Have you tried baked tart cherries in a cookie yet? I dare wager that once you’ve tasted these cherry chocolate chip cookies that you won’t be missing them. And if you are, then you can always pile them high atop some Amish Baked Oatmeal for breakfast, or throw as many raisins as you like into our Healthy Trail Mix Recipe.
Why We Love These Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Everyone will love something different about these cookies, but for us, it boils down to this: This cookie recipe is Fast, Delicious, and Unique.
Fast– You can prep these cherry chocolate chip cookies fast (in about 20 minutes) and have them freshly baked and ready to eat in only 45 minutes (if you use our freezer shortcut). For some great tips check out our ultimate guide to freezing cookies and bars.
Delicious– It had been years since I ate one of these cherry oatmeal cookies, but I am not exaggerating when I say that this time, they FLOORED me. The flavors wash over you in a beautiful sequence of sweet, oaty, and tart with a slight salty finish and a perfectly golden crispy, buttery, chewy texture.
Upon further review, these are a contender for our favorite cookie recipe. Or at least 1a, 1b with the Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips or our Iced Orange Cookies. They’re just delicious.
Unique– Finally, this is a perfect cookie recipe to have on hand because you know that no matter how many others bring cookies to your gathering, bake sale, potluck, or party, that these will stand out as unique. In a sea of middling chocolate chip cookie platters, these chocolate chip cherry oatmeal cookies shine brightly.
Key Ingredients for Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate– Are you a milk chocolate person or do you prefer dark chocolate in your cookies? No matter how you answer that question, (at least for this cherry oatmeal cookie recipe) there are NO wrong answers. This recipe is GREAT with either or both. Though, whichever you choose, do yourself a favor. Keep that stale bag of chocolate chips locked away in the drawer and go ahead and splurge on the guuuud chocolate for this recipe. I’m talking those big ol’ bars of Tony’s, Lindt, or Ghirardelli chocolate. You won’t be sorry.
- Dried Cherries – Montmorency cherries are perfect for their tart sweetness and their juicy size. They’re just slightly bigger than raisins or dried cranberries, and have a much nicer chew. (*don’t say it, don’t say it… MOOOUTH FEEEEEL) Michigan exports these by the boatload, so you should be able to find them at most grocery stores.
- Rolled oats– The oats you know and love. Nothing special here, except how wonderfully oats always pair with…
- Brown sugar & salt– We love a sweet treat that has a hint of salt, and these cherry oatmeal cookies are no exception. (Ex: Salted Chocolate Pretzel Toffee Bark or Chocolate Covered Pretzels). We use table salt in the cookie dough, and Maldon’s flaky sea salt for the finishing touches.
- Baking essentials, including unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, baking powder, and flour.
Storing Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay soft and chewy for at least five days, sometimes longer.
You can freeze the cookies baked or unbaked. Flash freeze balls of dough before placing them in a ziplock bag and storing for up to 6 months. Cookies can be baked from frozen.
Baked cookies should be stacked with parchment paper between them in a freezer safe container and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
See this post for full instructions on freezing drop cookies.
There you have it. These chocolate chip cherry oatmeal cookies are no more complicated than any other homemade cookie, but I think you will appreciate the contrasting and complimentary flavors.
These beauties may never be the #1 favorite for kids who just want a sugar blasted treat (*see GF Monster Cookies), but if you need a more balanced, refined cookie recipe that is one of a kind, these definitely fit the bill.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (16 Tablespoons) butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk or dark chocolate chunks (about 3 chocolate bars broken into pieces), plus more for topping
- 1 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped, plus more for topping
- Flake sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until the mixture is creamy and light in color, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
- Add the flour, oats, baking powder, soda, and salt and beat on low speed until well combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks and cherries.
- Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours or overnight. If you’re in a hurry, you can scoop the dough onto baking sheets and freeze for 15 minutes.
- To bake, drop heaping Tablespoons of dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until outsides are golden and interior is still a bit soft and puffy. Dot with a few additional chocolate chunks or cherries for a beautiful presentation. Allow the cookies to set up completely on the cookie sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool.
- Sprinkle with flakes of sea salt and store in an airtight container.
Notes
I have made these many times with both dark and milk chocolate. I (Courtney) tend to prefer milk chocolate and Will prefers dark chocolate, but we won’t say no to either! We also like to dot the tops with a few extra chocolate chips and cherries right after they come out of the oven for a beautiful presentation.
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Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 222Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 34mgSodium: 122mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 17gProtein: 3g
Please note nutritional information for my recipes is calculated by a third party service and provided as a courtesy to my readers. For the most accurate calculation, I always recommend running the numbers yourself with the specific products you use.
Still Hungry for More?
We can’t get enough cookies either. That’s why we have so many different cookie recipes!
Just search “cookie” up in the search bar to find our Christmas time favorites like these snowflake Canestrelli, classic Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies, our soft and chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies, or these delicate Lemon Rosemary Butter Cookies.
For our springtime lineup, don’t miss our Mint Oreo Cookies, Coconut Cookies, these Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies, or these no bake Chocolate Birds Nests.
Once we made these cookies, and had a baby
Now updated, the original copy for this post included the following story.
When I was pregnant, I made a birth plan. It was lovely and detailed and absurdly specific. Among other things, I planned to arrive at the hospital midway through labor, calmly stroll into labor and delivery, and show up with a plate of cookies to share with all the nurses.
Instead, the Mr. ended up rushing me (*moaning) up to the third floor in a wheelchair (apologies to the unwitting couple who joined us on that elevator ride…yipes!), where I delivered the baby within about an hour of showing up. The cookies (and my laptop), sadly, were left in my suitcase in the car, which was left unlocked, with the door wide open. Did I mention we were a tad rushed? And maybe slightly distracted?
After the chaos subsided and we were settled in our recovery room with the new baby, the Mr. went back out to the car only to discover our oversight, and fetch these Cherry Oatmeal Cookies for our nursing staff. Thankfully everything worked out (with the baby, this recipe, and the fact that our car wasn’t burgled or taken over by raccoons.)
One nurse even stopped by our room later to tell us they were the best cookies she’d ever had!
Oh birth plans, you are hilarious.
