Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries

I'm not, by nature, a baker. I used to try to be. Unfortunately my lack of desire to follow a recipe exactly drew me away from baking. With baking you HAVE to be exact. Where as cooking I don't have to...so I went that direction.

Every now and then though, I come across a cookie recipe that I feel compelled to make...immediately. And so yesterday, I found myself walking to QFC for ingredients.

The one adjustment I'd make to this recipe is to chop up the dried cherries. The ones I got out of the package I bought were too big to me. So I chopped them down to be about the same size as the chips. Oh and I used the whole bag of chips...who just puts in part of a package?

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries
Makes about 4 dozen - use a T to shape the dough.

• 1 cup Unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Packaged light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 Large eggs
• 2 cups Old fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 1/4 cups dried tart cherries (6 ounces)
• 1 1/4 cup Semisweet chocolate chips

Position 1 rack in bottom third and 1 rack in top third of oven; preheat to 375F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Blend first 4 ingredients in processor 30 seconds. Add eggs, process to blend.

Add next 4 ingredients. Using on/off turns, process until oats are coarsely chopped and mixture is blended. Transfer to a large bowl. Mix in cherries and chocolate chips.

Spoon batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart (cookies will spread). Bake until tops of cookies are golden brown, rotating baking sheets after 7 minutes, about 14 minutes total. Transfer cookies rack; let cool. (Or eat one really quick like me and burn your tongue). Repeat with remaining batter.

Right, so I had some problems with my electrical equipment in the kitchen. I didn't realize I had thrown a circuit and so some of my outlets weren't working. I thought it was my food processor. So I didn't process everything in a food process. I did process my oats in my small chopper though. Everything else I did in my mixer.