CHOCOLATE CHERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

CHOCOLATE CHERRY OATMEAL COOKIES image

Yield About 3 dozen cookies

Number Of Ingredients 14

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar (Splenda brown sugar mix works well here)
½ cup white sugar (Splenda baking blend works well)
1 teasp vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1½ cups all-purpose flour (use dip and sweep method to measure)
½ teasp salt
1 teasp baking powder
¼ teasp nutmeg
½ teasp cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup (6 ounces) dried cherries
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks
1 cup whole pecans, toasted then coarsely chopped

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350. In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter, both sugars, and the vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium-low, add the eggs one at a time and beat for 20 seconds. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinammon. Add sifted ingredients to the butter mixture. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix until blended. Stir in oats, cherries, chocolate, and nuts till evenly blended. Form dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter (an ice cream scoop is handy here) and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 14 to 17 minutes, until the bottom edges are just browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.