Post #8: (White) Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies

 Not sure if you know this, but Texas was just hit with a huge ice storm - Snowmageddon as it likes to be called.  So basically, aside from work, I was stuck indoors and all I could do was bake and watch movies.  a.k.a. Heaven!

Anyway, these cookies are not something I would normally make - I don't purchase a lot of dried fruit, nor do I think it's okay to "ruin" a perfectly good chocolate chip cookie with healthy stuff!  The restaurant I manage is part of a test market.  With this being the case, I get sent home with a ton of weird ingredients that we can't use in the cafe, but make strange additions to our home pantry (you should have seen the looks on our friend's faces when they saw we had 3 or 4 jars of marshmallow fluff in the pantry...).  So, recently I was blessed with roughly 5lbs. of dried cherries.  I'm generally not a huge cherry eater, so I had no idea what to do with them.  Our head of Research and Development pointed me to Martha Stewart's website for the "best chocolate cherry cookies ever!"  Because of the previously mentioned ice storm, I couldn't get to the store to buy oats, so I just replaced them with flour this time, and no chocolate chips (WTF!?) so I used white ones.  Worked out just fine - they were hubby approved - but the original recipe is better, so that is what I am posting!  :o)

Do y'all have any good recipes that use dried cherries?

Also, is my photography getting any better?  We have so little natural light in this place!

 

 Cherry Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Makes 20 cookies

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 4 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup toffee pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice during mixing. Add the egg, mix on high speed to combine. Add the vanilla; mix to combine. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low speed until well combined. Add oats, cherries, chocolate, and toffee pieces; mix to combine after each addition.
4. Using a 2-inch ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. Repeat, spacing 2 inches apart.
5. Bake cookies until golden brown 13 to 15 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.