These are slightly over-baked – still good but, don’t make this mistake!
My daughter Christin has blood sugar issues. There are times when she just can’t keep her blood sugar up high enough. This has been going on for a long time and we have exhausted all the possible medical issues. So today after taking her to lunch where she quickly inhaled a crabcake sandwich on a ciabatta bun after two rolls and butter and claimed she was still not ok, I said, “How about if I make you some Oatmeal Cookies with…….?”
I had just responded to a facebook request for an idea involving cranberries – I said: Oatmeal Cookies with Toasted Pecans, Dried Cranberries, Maple Syrup and Orange Zest. So, I already had these in the back of my mind when her issue came up.
So, this afternoon I went ahead and whipped these up for her. As she came by when I was mixing, she said, “Can you add some chocolate chips into those, too?” Will do……. Ok, so here goes:
OATMEAL COOKIES WITH TOASTED PECANS, DRIED CHERRIES, MAPLE SYRUP, ORANGE ZEST AND CHOCOLATE CHIPS – adapted from Tate’s Cookies
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
zest of one orange
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup maple syrup (grade B if possible)
1 large egg, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325F. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda, orange zest with a wooden spoon until blended.
In bowl of standing mixer, cream butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Blend again until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl and beater during this process.
whir in progress!
With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour/oats mixture. Mix just until flour disappears. Add the pecans, cherries and chocolate chips and blend just until disbursed through the batter.
Spoon onto cookie sheets with an ice cream scoop. Bake for 20 minutes, turning the cookie sheets once halfway through. Bake just until the cookie is set on outside but still slightly soft in center – do not overbake. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheets. Remove to cooling racks and cool completely.
Enjoy!