Cherry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

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Through our local food co-op, we purchased a preselected variety of products from the Nutty Guys. I'm a big fan of the Nutty Guys, but one of the items included was a very large bag of dried cherries. It's not that I dislike cherries, but they've never been my favorite dried fruit. So, the bag sat for a couple months on the shelf until our health conscious friends from Canada came to stay. It was a good opportunity to unload on them all the healthy stuff that just sits around our place. With our Canadian house guests, we mainly ate the cherries straight out of the bag and on salads.

However, when the Canucks returned to the North Pole, we still had a half a bag of cherries left. Now that the bag was opened, we needed to use them up. I first tried them in a scone recipe we like. I substituted the cherries for the dried cranberries. These turned out exceptionally well, and I even like them better with the cherries. I started to brainstorm other ways to use the cherries in baking.

I decided to take a really good oatmeal cookie recipe and throw in some cherries and white chocolate chips. The result? Simply amazing. Katie expressed a little displeasure, however, because she knew she wouldn't be able to resist them. To help her out, I brought a bunch of them into work where they were a big hit (and not because I work with a bunch of starving college students).

These oatmeal cookies are so good and so easy to make. The dried cherries and white chocolate really add pizazz. Give 'em a try. And also, don't forget to check out the Nutty Guys. They've got lots of other great products, and they ship all over the US.

After photographing, I practically ate this

stack myself—the breakfast of champions.

Oatmeal and dried cherries? Yes, I'm sure they're healthy!

Oatmeal Cookies with White Chocolate and Dried Cherries
Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 ½ tsps. ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cherries (other dried fruit such as cranberries would also work well)

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, and then mix in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir into creamed mixture. (Up to this point, I used my stand mixer, but after, I used a heavy wooden spoon because the dough does become very thick.) Stir in oats, white chocolate chips, and dried cherries. Form large walnut-sized balls and place onto a greased baking sheet. Flatten balls out slightly. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 350˚ in a preheated oven. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.