Double Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Hi Friends!

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it or not, but this is the first week I’ve started working again. I knew it might be a little crazy trying to transition back into things, so when my friend Nora offered to share a recipe with you guys to lighten my load, I immediately took her up on the offer! Nora blogs over at A Clean Bake and I’ve gotten to know her over the past few months as she’s a regular submitter to my Sunday Food Prep posts!

Her blog is full of great recipes that always leave me wanting to run to the kitchen and turn on the oven!

Hi Lean Green Bean readers! My name is Nora and I am a fellow blogger over at www.acleanbake.com and an avid reader of Lindsay’s page. Her recipes always inspire me and her weekly meal prep roundup motivates me to think ahead and prepare for the week. Needless to say, I’m a fan!

Since Lindsay is heading back to work this week and needed some time to get back into the swing of things, I volunteered to step in so that she didn’t have to worry so much about the blog, and you guys wouldn’t go hungry. And I brought cookies!

Hooray for Christmas Cookie Season! The holiday season is great and all, but cookies are the real reason for my excitement this time of year. It’s what gets me out of a warm bed to face a cold day. If there were some sort of cookie-centric holiday in February (Valentine’s Day cookies aren’t enough of a thing, don’t you think?), I wouldn’t mind the winter so much. Maybe. Probably not.

More and more every year, I suspect, the hardest part of hosting holiday meals is the increasingly convoluted list of guests’ food allergies and intolerances to keep track of. Cookies, and dessert in general, are an absolute minefield. They’re full of gluten and dairy and sugar (oh my), and there’s bound to be a guest or guests who can’t eat one or more of those ingredients at just about any holiday gathering.

That’s where you come in: be their white knight. Or, actually, their double chocolate cherry knight. These cookies, though you’d never guess it, are completely free of common problem foods (not counting eggs, but if those are a problem, I have included notes in the recipe to work around it) and they taste as decadent and rich as you would expect a cookie with “double chocolate” in the name to taste.

They have a crisp outer shell that is SO satisfying to bite into, and contain a soft and gooey center that melts in your mouth. The chocolate chips are creamy and the dried cherries and oats are chewy; the sweetness of the chocolate chips and cherries balances out the super dark chocolate flavor of the cookie dough itself. These cookies are, in sum, everything you need this time of year. It’s hard to believe they are safe for those with food allergies to eat (just make sure you are buying the right ingredients; read my recipe notes for further info) and easy as can be for anyone to make, even if you are not familiar with allergen-free baking. Don’t let the “allergen-free” label intimidate you! In fact, I have tons of mouthwatering recipes on my site that are all allergen-free, and many are completely grain-free/paleo and/or vegan as well. There’s something for everyone.

Thanks again to Lindsay for having me, and I hope this post enabled you to have a little bit of extra snuggle time with your handsome son!

(Gluten-Free) Double Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup almond butter (creamy, sweetened)
• 3 Tablespoons butter, vegan butter or coconut oil
• ½ cup honey
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ¼ cup chocolate chips
• ¼ cup dried cherries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Cover 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick pads and set aside.
2. In a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, combine the almond butter, regular butter (or oil) and honey and heat on high for 30 seconds until the honey is very runny and the butter is about half melted. Use an electric mixer to mix until the butter is completely melted and ingredients are combined.
3. When the butter is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly, beat in the egg and vanilla, followed by the salt and baking soda.
4. Slowly incorporate the cocoa powder.
5. Mix in the oats.
6. Put away the electric mixer and use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and cherries.
7. Use a spoon or cookie scoop to divide the dough into 10 2-Tablespoon balls. Space them evenly on the prepared cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are crisp. Cool cookies on sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:

1. If your almond butter is unsweetened, you may want to add an additional Tablespoon of honey.
2. For a lactose-intolerant variation, use vegan butter (e.g. Smart Balance or similar product), shortening or coconut oil as the fat and a dairy-free brand of chocolate chips.
3. For a gluten-free variation, make sure you are using oats that specifically say “certified gluten-free” on the package.
4. For a vegan option, use the lactose-intolerant ingredients above, plus an egg replacement such as EnerG or flax eggs. You may need to increase your baking time to compensate for the added moisture that egg replacements usually contain.
5. If you are not serving these immediately after baking, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Cookie time! Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies from @acleanbake and @leangrnbeanblog!
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Thanks to Nora for stopping by!

Let’s chat:
What’s your favorite Christmas cookie?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–