These Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies are your favorite old fashioned oatmeal cookie made even better! With the addition of dark chocolate chips and chopped fresh cherries, they’re a sure sign that summer’s finally arrived.
Cherries, cherries, cherries!!
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When I see them in the store this time of year, I just cannot get enough of them.
Whether I put them in Pound Cake, Cherry Oatmeal Muffins, or we just eat them as is, they never last long here at the 365 homestead.
We also love oatmeal cookies, but I wanted to make them with something other than your standard raisins. I mean, those are good and all, but why not use what’s in season and think outside the box (haha, the raisin box! Get it??).
They worked perfectly, too and the use of the dark chocolate just seriously takes your cookie to another level.
For some reason, I feel more sophisticated when I’m eating dark chocolate, too like I’m special and it’s a treat.
Just humor me here, k?
So, RUN, don’t walk to the store to get some fresh cherries and make these cookies.
No joke.
You really do need to make them.
SAVE THESE DARK CHOCOLATE CHERRY OATMEAL COOKIES TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
The dark chocolate chips, the fresh cherries and the greatness of that oatmeal all in one cookie …
*sigh*
And I even give you permission to use more than the amount of dark chocolate chips called for in the recipe. You can barely see them (if at all), but they’re in there!
It may be because I only used a cup. See, when Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to fetch her poor cookies some chips, the stash had been broken into.
Oh, that lovable son o’ mine.
He loves to open up those bags and just help himself., he does.
Soooooo…when the momma is baking away and doesn’t take inventory of all necessary ingredients, she runs into some …what’s the word I’m looking for?
Hitches, snags, ah, forget it.
Things you’ll need to make these Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies –
-
- Parchment, parchment, parchment!
While you can grease your cookie sheets or put the dough on sheets without preparing them at all, I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. Ask me how I know.
Use this stuff and you’ll just save yourself a whole heck of a lot of trouble trying to scrape the cookie remnants off.
Trust me. This Kirkland brand is the only kind I use because it rips perfectly every time and lasts me quite a while. - A cherry pitter. This one had the best ratings on Amazon, but THIS ONE looks like a heck of a lot more fun AND you can pit 6 of them at once. Yes, SIX!!
Admittedly, I don’t have a cherry pitter and dug them all out by hand. Not fun, so you can be sure I’ll be adding one of these babies to my utility drawer pronto. No more red-stained fingers for this lady. - Dark Chocolate Chips.
I used these, but honestly, I don’t care which ones you use. You use the brand you feel most comfortable using. Heck, you can even use semi-sweet or milk chocolate. BUT dark chocolate IS supposed to be better for you. Besides the delicious and good-for-you cherries in these cookies, too eating these are a win-win in my book!
- Parchment, parchment, parchment!
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Want to make more delicious goodies with cherries?
These Healthy Chocolate Cherry Cookies from Well Plated will be the perfect afternoon snack. Give me a couch, a book, a cup of tea and a few of these to snack on and I’m good to go!
Start your summer morning off with this Cherry Coconut Lime Smoothie from Wishes and Dishes. The flavors sound incredible and a smoothie is a great way to get any day going, especially if you need to be out the door in a hurry.
OMG!!! These Rum Soaked Preserved Cherries and Boozy Cherry Molasses seriously has me drooling!! Give me a big bowl of some vanilla ice cream and pour this stuff over it and I’ll be happy for days! Or you could just hand me a spoon. haha
Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 ¾ cups rolled oats
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup diced fresh cherries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare two cookie sheets by lining them with parchment.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cardamom, baking soda, and salt together.
- Stir in the beaten egg, vanilla, melted butter, milk and rolled oats.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Fold in cherries, but do not overmix.
- Arrange by tablespoonfuls on prepared cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart as they will spread as they bake.
- Bake until edges are just slightly golden, about 10-12 minutes.
Nutrition
I rate everything I make on a scale of 1-4 and these Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
I’ve always loved oatmeal cookies and removing the raisins and substituting them with fresh cherries was a wonderful change.
And of course, chocolate always makes everything better!
Cherries will be gone before you know it, so go get some today!!
If you like these cookies then you’ll LOVE…
Blueberry Cherry Mini Crumb Pies
Cherry Pound Cake
20+ Fresh Cherry Desserts
I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!
This post was originally published in July 2014. Updated June 2018.
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Comments & Reviews
oh god no!
Can’t wait to make these. I noticed that the recipie does not say when to add the chips and cherries, I am assuming it is after everything else is blended.
Thanks for the info . I too, deal with seasonal allergies. I’ve also learned that allergy pills are not the way to go. They’re very expensive and not good for the body at all. Natural foods, as you’ve listed above, are very much the way to go. Cake Recipe
I also deal with allergies, what are the natural foods you are talking about?
My hubby will love you for this. He’s obsessed with cherries!
Thanks, Ashley! I hope he enjoys them!
Hi Lynne! Just tried this out except I didn’t have any chocolate chip so I substituted it for some almonds. The cookies taste great but they are green! Not a nice green either! Do you think it’s the effect of the cardamom? :/
No, I don’t think it is the cardamom. I used the whole tsp ( slightly heaping, cause I love cardamom) and mine look just like the picture.
Can these cookies be frozen?
Can you use dried cherries?
Vicki, I have only used the fresh, but I don’t see why you couldn’t.
Please let me know how they turn out, I’d love to know what you think of them using the dried cherries!
It’s not cherry season ?. Would frozen cherries work?
Carla, I think they would. Although I haven’t used frozen cherries in this recipe, I think that if you thawed them and then made sure they weren’t too wet that they would work.
Enjoy them!
Can confirm that 5 Oz dried cherries works just fine, but the recipe would benefit from 1/2 to 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract. Otherwise very good and will make again. Oh and I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup AP flour, gave it a nuttier taste. Thanks!!
Great, thanks, Karen! I appreciate the input.
And thanks for catching the omission of vanilla. I was surprised I hadn’t used it. I’ll definitely be making them again soon and adjusting the recipe.
I made these today and think the cardamom overpowers the cherries. I like cardamom but I think I’d go with 1/2 teaspoon and some vanilla extract. I think these would be good with almond extract and some chopped almonds and drop the cardamom.
I made this recipe today with some replacements. I was looking for a diabetic friendly recipe, so I swapped some ingredients and increase baking time. I did the following:
In place of cardomon, I used 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of vanilla
In place of 1 1/2 cups of AP flour I used: 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup AP flour and 1/2 cup of Almond flour.
In place of 1 cup sugar, I used 1 cup Monk fruit.
I used 1 cup of crushed fresh cherries.
I used a 1” ball scoop to make cookies and baked them for 16 minutes, and I’m at 1500’’ altitude.
They turned out great, moist (almost falling apart). I hope this is enough to help diabetics. Thank you for the original recipe!
So in other words, you made YOUR recipe. 🤷🏼♀️
These have got to be the best cookies. I used dried cherries (5 0z). So good right out of the oven. My husband and I went wacka wacka over them. I will make again.
Just made the cherry chocolate chip cookies and my husband and I love them. The cardamom gave them a unique but great taste. The only downside is the cookies come out almost gray due to the cherries. Nonetheless they will disappear quickly at this house.
The cardamom was too strong. If I make these again, I will use half a teaspoon. Also, the texture of the cookie was a little off. I baked them until the edges started to brown, but the center of the cookie was still a little doughy.
Followed recipe. Batter was very wet. Baked cookies 5 minutes longer than instructed and they still are very soft. Not sweet at all which is OK. Wouldn’t make them again.
I’m sorry to report that my cookies look absolutely nothing like your beautifully photographed ones. The batter was very tasty. However, it was too stiff to gently fold in the very juicy cherries. My batter turned blue. And the cherry juice added too much liquid to the batter which then required extended cooking. The cookies turned out more cakey than chewy. I appreciate the recommendation, but I will not be making these cookies again.
Lisa, thank you very much for your feedback. I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you and I’ll consider your comments when we redo and repost the recipe. I appreciate that you took the time to let me know.
Delicious!!!
I didn’t have cardamom so I used cinnamon instead. I also used frozen dark sweet cherries I bought from the fruit truck last summer. I let them thaw and then patted them dry. After I diced them I put them in a strainer for a bit while I made the dough. Patted them again before adding to the dough.
Will defend make these again! I do think some almond extract, maybe 1/2 tsp, would give it the perfect touch.
Awesome recipe!
I replaced cardamom with vanilla because it’s what I’m used to in baking, but next time I’ll try to be adventurous:) I also used a little less sugar for family members, and I added coconut bc I love that flavour combo but not enough perhaps , I couldn’t taste it in the end.. For me the texture was great, I made them big and underbaked them and they were a little cakey, perfect.
Kate, thank you so much! I’m thrilled you liked them and love the suggestions/changes. Thanks for the rating and taking the time to leave your feedback. It is much appreciated.
I am at 6400 ft altitude but the only adjustment I made for that was to add 1 TBL of flour. I used fresh and very ripe cherries. Cookies were not cooked at 10 or 12 or 13. minutes but I finally gave up. I think they could have cooked 15 or 16 minutes! Frustrating. They are very “wet” and not a good consistency. I’m going to try freezing them to see if they’re better thawed. A little disappointed as I tend to follow recipes to a T and this one just didn’t work due to times..
KC, I’m sorry the cookies didn’t work out for you. This recipe is on my list to remake tomorrow, so I will do that and let you know how they turned out.
Batter is delish! Had a hard time getting these in the oven without eating all the dough! Cookies do not spread much so I was able to squeeze the last bit of dough onto 2nd cookie sheet for 2 extra cookies. I used a cookie scoop and leveled them off to keep baking uniform (not always the best at doing that 😚.) made 34 cookies. They were a hit with the hubs.
Babs, thanks so much! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to leave the review and comment!
They do turn grey/green as others mentioned unless using dried cherries. I used only 1/2 cup of brown sugar and it was very sweet. Don’t forget there’s a full cup of chocolate chips. They also needed 17 minutes in the oven. Good but I don’t think I will make again.