O is for Oatmeal Cherry White Chocolate Chip Cookies (Jessica)

Dear Readers,

There were a surprising number of choices to pick from for this week's recipe. I want to pay tribute to every other kind of oatmeal cookie out there, as well as every recipe with oranges...yum! I settled on this recipe because I'm a sucker for white chocolate.
What IS white chocolate anyway? Well, first of all, it's not REALLY chocolate. Here's what Wikipedia says: it's a "confectionery derivative of chocolate". I think that's just a fancy way to say "it's candy". Read more about it and you can learn about the rules governing what can be labeled as "white chocolate" in America. Whatever you call it, I think it's delicious. I know this very sweet confectionery can be divisive; people either love it or hate it. Guess which group I'm in!

These cookies came with me to my cooking club's picnic over the weekend. Remember my very first post? Well, cooking club rolled around again and I wanted to bring something easy to snack on while we lounged outside in the park. Here's the result!

Oatmeal Cherry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Joy the Baker

Ingredients: 
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats (I used quick oats, that's all I had in my kitchen!)
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

5. Add oats, cherries, and white chocolate chips, mixing until dough forms.

6. Spoon tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper covered baking sheet.

7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until a light golden brown color. Cool completely and enjoy!

Review:
These cookies were delightful! I know cookies really aren't much of a culinary adventure, most recipes are basically the same with only slight variations. Yet I keep coming back to them because I love making cookies. Plus, they are so easy to share! No fancy carrying contraption, no utensils necessary. Just stick 'em in a Tupperware and they are ready for a picnic!
I liked this recipe a lot because the tart cherries balanced out the sweetness of the white chocolate so the cookies overall had a perfect level of sweetness and tang. The cookie itself was on the chewier side (I personally tend to prefer crunchy cookies), but it held up well. This is the kind of cookie that is DANGEROUS because you can absolutely keep eating them until they are all gone. Oh, where are the rest of those cookies I just made...??..did I just eat ALL of them...??

And here's one final nugget of food for thought: cookies aren't really cooked, if you think about it, they are baked. Why don't we call them bakies?  Could "bakies" catch on?!

Have a sweet week,

-Jessica