This is Where the Yum Lives - Chewy Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

For Doodie's birthday party #2, I decided to bake cookies. I knew there were going to be a lot of people milling about, and what better way to spread the sugar love than with a couple of batches of cookies? So I chose 2 recipes that I'd been fixin' to make for awhile, and rolled up my sleeves...

I stumbled upon the first recipe when I was lurking around the Gourmet Warehouse website. What can I say, Caren McSherry has got it goin' on. These are tasty, and even verge on the edge of being healthy. They're chock full of fibre, and aren't too, too full of sugar.

Chewy Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch sea salt

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not the instant kind)

1/2 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup sun dried cherries

1 cup chopped good quality semi sweet chocolate, chopped into random size chunks

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Beat the butter and both sugars together until light and pale in colour. Add the egg and both extracts. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Mix into the batter along with the oats, coconut cherries and chocolate. Beat the mixture well to incorporate all the ingredients evenly. Chill the batter for 1 hour. Roll into small balls and flatten slightly with a spatula. Lay them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. This recipe should make around 30 delicious (and almost healthy!) cookies.