Dark chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies are incredibly easy to make using staple ingredients. These bakery-style cookies are chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside and don’t require chill time. They’re the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors.

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Chewy Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

My kids are obsessed with cookies, I’m big on tart flavors, and my husband loves chocolate, so I developed these Cherry Oatmeal Cookies to satisfy all of our family preferences! Sure, we all love chocolate chip cookies, but these cookies NEED to be on your cookie rotation.

These bakery-style cherry oatmeal cookies combine brown sugar with granulated sugar for the perfect soft and chewy cookies with slightly crispy edges. And if you know me, you know I love baking sweet treats that don’t take a lot of time. That’s why these cookies have zero chill time and are ready in under 30 minutes.

Overhead shot of cherry oatmeal cookies with dark chocolate on white parchment paper evenly spaced.

Ingredients You'll Need

Oats: Adds a chewy texture. Stick with old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats.
Flour: We’re using regular, all-purpose flour. I always use unbleached and unbromated flour (King Arthur flour is my go-to!).
Baking soda: Helps the cookies to rise and contributes to their chewy texture.
Salt: Enhances the flavors of the other ingredients in the cookie dough.
Unsalted Butter: Using unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt in your cookies. Make sure to bring your butter to room temperature.
Sugar: We’re using an equal amount of light brown sugar (keeps your cookies soft and chewy) and granulated sugar (adds the perfect amount of crunch on the edges).
Eggs: You’ll need two eggs for this recipe (I use large eggs for all my recipes). Bring your eggs to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour before using.
Vanilla: Splurge on a good-quality pure vanilla extract. It’ll make a difference. You can substitute the vanilla with 1 teaspoon of almond extract for a delicious combo!
Dried cherries: The star of the show! If you prefer, you can substitute with dried cranberries, like in these white chocolate cranberry cookies.
Chocolate: I love pairing dark chocolate with the cherries in the recipe. You can use chocolate chips or chop a high-quality chocolate baking bar.
Coconut: Shredded coconut adds a delicious flavor and texture to these cookies but is completely optional.

How To Make Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

Before you begin: Bring all the ingredients to room temperature, preheat the oven to 350°F/177°C, line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and read the recipe from start to finish.

Whisk the dry ingredients: Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Creamed butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a metal stand mixer bowl.

Cream butter and sugars: Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and creamy.

Creamed butter and sugars mixed with eggs and vanilla in a metal stand mixer bowl.

Add the eggs and vanilla: Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, then mix in the vanilla.

Dry ingredients combined with creamed butter and sugars and eggs in a metal stand mixer bowl.

Add dry ingredients: With the mixer on low speed, beat in the dry ingredients until mostly combined. You’ll want to see some streaks of flour in the dough.

Cherry oatmeal chocolate cookie dough in a metal stand mixer bowl with a white rubber spatula.

Mix in cherries and chocolate: Plus the coconut, if using, until evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough. At this point the flour will fully incorporate into the dough.

Scoop and bake: Using a cookie scoop, divide the dough and roll into balls. Place the balls on the baking sheets, slightly flatten them, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Don't Forget These Cookie Baking Tips

As a trained pastry chef, I’ve made my fair share of cookies. These are my favorite tips for baking up a perfect batch of homemade cookies:

Weigh your ingredients. Using a digital kitchen scale takes the guesswork out of measuring and gives consistent results.
Use a cookie scoop. You’ll have the same-sized cookies, which means they will all bake evenly.
Don’t overbake the cookies. You want the centers of the cookies to be very soft, looking slightly underbaked and a little puffed up. The edges should start to look lightly golden brown.
Perfectly round cookies. After the hot cookies are out of the oven, place a large round cookie cutter around the cookies, and shape them into perfect circles!
Cool cookies on the hot sheet pan. Leave your cookies on the hot pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This allows them to begin to firm up.

Storage & Freezing Tips

Keep these cherry oatmeal cookies (completely cooled) in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. However, my kids never let them survive that long!

Freeze any extra cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. When you’re craving cookies, just set them on the counter to thaw. You can get all my tips and tricks for freezing cookie dough here.

Note: If you love warmed cookies, pop them in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften and warm them (perfect with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!).

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I hope you love these Cherry Oatmeal Cookies as much as we do and that they become a family favorite! Please leave a comment below, I love reading your feedback! And if you’d like to make this recipe later, don’t forget to pin it on Pinterest! Happy Baking!