Homemade Cookie Recipe: The Ultimate Summer Take-out

I found this homemade cookie recipe a couple of months ago in the Chicago Tribune and was completely enthralled with the idea of all these wonderful flavors packed into one little cookie!  I made them for our next BBQ and they were a hit! They are the ultimate summer take-out cookie, loved by adults and kids alike. Made without flour, they are light and crunchy - perfect for your next picnic or BBQ!

Chocolate Cherry Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup each: granulated sugar, packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup extra-crunchy natural peanut butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup salted, toasted pumpkin seeds, roasted hulled sunflower seeds or roasted peanuts
• 1/2 cup dried cherries (chopped if large), dried currants or small dark raisins
• 8 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate bars, roughly broken into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:

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-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.

 

Enjoy!