JeanMarie Brownson's Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Prep: 25 minutes   Cook: 12 minutes  Oven: 350^oF

Makes: about 90 cookies

These chocolate cherry peanut butter oatmeal cookies have it all going on: oats, nuts, dried fruit, and chocolate. The scent of them baking will warm your house, through and through. These cookies are made without flour. For the best crunch, be sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats, not the finer-textured quick-cooking varieties. I like natural peanut butter for its deep peanut flavor. Store the cookies in a covered container up to several days or freeze up to 2 months.

Ingredients:

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup each: granulated sugar, packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup extra-crunchy natural peanut butter, at room temperature
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (can make with Gluten Free)
½ cup salted, toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas), roasted hulled sunflower seeds or roasted peanuts
½ cup dried cherries (chopped if large), dried currants or small dark raisins
8 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate bars, roughly broken into ¼-inch pieces

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars in large bowl of electric mixer.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, until smooth and creamy. Beat in baking soda and vanilla. Beat in peanut butter until incorporated. Use a wooden spoon to stir in oats, pumpkin seeds, cherries and chocolate pieces.

2. Use a teaspoon to make balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place on 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets spacing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with a spoon. Bake until set and bottoms are slightly golden, about 12 minutes.

3. Cool cookies on pan, 5 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. (You can reuse the paper-lined baking sheets to bake the remaining cookies.) Nutrition information per serving: 67 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 8 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 34 mg sodium, 1 g fiber

https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2015/12/03/jeanmarie-brownsons-everything-cookie-can-slake-a-stoners-hunger

 2022 - made batch as bars, using standard baking sheet, lined with parchment.  it is difficult to bake center without overbaking edges. Try dropping to 325F next time?