emergency cookies: white chocolate cherry chunkers

Oh my. What a week I've had. Such a week that I can't even remember when I made these cookies or how I had the energy or time. But it's a good thing I did, because it turns out that J-Cat is practically surviving on them. On Saturday night, my manchild of a boyfriend broke his upper arm skateboarding and now is pretty much unable to do anything. Between multiple visits to the hospital and the realization that I have to do quite a lot to help him (imagine all the things you can't do with only one arm) and a severe lack of sleep, I'm wondering if perhaps I baked these cookies in the middle of the night. Luckily, these hearty white chocolate cherry chunk cookies are full of oats and relatively low on sugar, so when I go to work and leave the gimp alone at home all day, he can easily eat these rather than try to get something off of a shelf or whatever.



The recipe comes from the new book The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread, with some minor modifications from me to reduce the sugar (I always do that, as I actually don't like really sweet desserts), and increase the fiber. I also made smaller cookies than the recipe suggests, so I have adjusted the cooking time to account for it. Amy's Bread is an incredible bakery that constantly strives to thwart all of my attempts to lose weight. It's right downstairs from my office. It's magical. Recipe after the jump:



WHITE CHOCOLATE CHERRY CHUNKERS
Adapted from The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread
(Makes 36 small or 12 large cookies)

1 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dried tart cherries
3/4 cup white chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1. Position one rack in the top third of the oven, one rack in the bottom third of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the cookie sheets with baking parchment.

2. In a bowl, add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and whisk together. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. In another large bowl, add the cherries and white chocolate and toss gently to combine.

3. In another bowl, using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. Gradually add the egg mixture until everything is well combined.

4. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in stages. Mix only until everything is well combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl frequently. There should not be any pockets of dry flour left in the dough. Add the cherries and chocolate and mix again on low speed until everything is evenly distributed. If you're using a mixer that has beaters instead of a paddle, you may want to fold these last ingredients in by hand with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula.

5. Using a large soup spoon, a metal ice cream scoop, or your clean hands moistened with water, scoop out small balls of dough and place on lined baking sheet. Press down lightly to flatten them to a thickness of about 1 inch. They will spread a lot during baking. Bake the cookies for about 14 minutes, rotating the cookies halfway through the baking time. They should be golden brown and baked all the way to the center. They should be soft, but be careful not to underbake them or they'll be doughy and will fall apart easily.

6. Let cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack and cool completely before serving.