Oat, Chocolate, and Dried Cherry Cookies
An immensely satisfying cookie. Brown butter and spices give the dough a warm depth of flavor. Oats, cherries and two types of chocolate provide textural contrast. Feel free to substitute the chunky ingredients to your preferences - just keep the quantities similar.
Makes 28 cookies (depending on how much cookie dough you eat)
INGREDIENTS
Wet Ingredients
½ pound (225 grams) butter, diced
1 cup (220 grams) brown sugar
½ cup (110 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Dry Ingredients
2 cups (200 grams) rolled oats
1 ½ cups (195 grams) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, ground
1 ½ teaspoons cardamom, ground
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
Chunky Ingredients
¾ cup (125 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 ounces (112 grams) 70% dark chocolate bar, roughly chopped
½ cup (70 grams) dried sour cherries
METHOD
Brown the butter. In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until it browns and smells nutty (5-10 minutes). While the butter is cooking, whisk together the sugars in a large mixing bowl. Carefully pour the browned butter into the bowl with the sugars (scraping all of the browned bits from the pan). Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Mix the dry ingredients. Add all of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and combine well.
Make the dough. When the butter mixture has cooled, whisk in the eggs. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (it’s OK if there are still a few streaks of flour left). Add the chunky ingredients and stir until evenly combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or, ideally, overnight. This dough will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.
Shape the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350°F with the fan off. Line a couple of sheet pans with parchment paper. Roll the cookies into golf ball sized balls and arrange them at least 4 inches apart. Gently press down with your palm to flatten them slightly.
Bake the cookies. Bake for 7 minutes, rotate, and bake for another 7 minutes. When you remove the cookies from the oven, give the pan a couple of bangs on the oven range (see note). Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store at room temperature for several days, or freeze for up to a couple months.
Note: This helps create a denser, fudgier cookie. If you prefer your cookies on the cakey side, skip this step.
FURTHER READING
