Chocolate Cherry Heart Healthy Cookies

Chocolate Cherry Heart Healthy Cookies are a decadent treat that also happens to be good for your heart. Loaded with cherries, bittersweet chocolate, old-fashioned oats, cinnamon, and more, they provide an explosion of flavors. Perfect for an easy on-the-go snack idea or to give to a friend that’s feeling under the weather. 

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Chocolate Cherry Heart Healthy Cookies

Chewy, fudgy oatmeal cookies studded with chocolate chunks and plump cherries. Oatmeal cookies are one of my favorites this time of year. They are so fat, chewy, and comforting. For this recipe, I added a splash of cherry flavoring to the dough to intensify the cherry flavor. These low-calorie cookies are a great Valentine’s Day treat for your health-conscious sweetie. If you love that chocolate and cherry combination (and seriously who doesn’t?), then you will like these cookies. 😀

Not only do these chocolate cherry cookies taste incredible, but they are also genuinely gorgeous too. We don’t have any problems getting the kids to eat them, and I don’t think you will either. If you are taking part in a holiday cookie exchange, these are a real winner. Everyone who loves cherries and chocolate together is bound to gobble up every last crumb. 

In addition, you will find that the recipe is very versatile too. You can exchange the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour, trade the cherries for cranberries, or swap the vanilla for almond extract. No matter what adjustments you make, you will still end up with a cookie that is unforgettable and delicious.

What Makes These Heart-Healthy Cookies? 

The combination of the bittersweet chocolate, old-fashioned oatmeal, and the cherries gives you a ton of heart-healthy nutrients. You will be getting antioxidants too. So, if there was ever a cookie, you can feel great about eating, this is the one. There is sugar in these cookies, and if you don’t feel comfortable adding it, that’s fine. You can switch the brown sugar with coconut sugar or something else that you enjoy. Either way, they are delicious cookies that you aren’t going to want to go without.

Can I Add Cranberries Instead of Cherries? 

Yes, adding cranberries instead of cherries is a delightful way to adjust the flavors. Cranberries are a little bit more tart than cherries but taste terrific. I do want to point out that cranberries offer a lot of nutrients too. They are also packed with antioxidants and are known to be a heart-healthy food as well. So, even if you aren’t a fan of cherries, you can still enjoy the benefits by switching to cranberries. Just don’t’ use ones that are loaded with refined sugar. 

Can I Make These Chocolate Cherry Cookies to Freeze? 

Yep! These chocolate cherry heart healthy cookies are fabulous to freeze. I find that I have the best luck when I lay them on a baking sheet, so they aren’t touching. Then I freeze the pan for 2-3 hours or until the cookies are reasonably solid. Once frozen, they can be removed from the pan and placed into a container that’s airtight. This will allow the cookies to not stick together when they are stored. So, you can quickly and easily grab a cookie or two as you want. The chocolate cherry cookies will last around 3 months in the freezer.

Ingredients

Using dried cherries is fantastic because then you can find them year-round. Where we live, it can be so difficult to find fresh cherries. Using dried saves me the headache of going out hunting for them at all the stores. 

• All-purpose flour
• Whole-wheat flour
• Old-fashioned rolled oats
• Baking soda
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Unsalted butter, melted
• Packed light brown sugar
• Dried cherries
• Cherry flavoring
• Pure vanilla extract
• Large egg, lightly beaten
• Bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

How to Make Chocolate Cherry Heart Healthy Cookies

As you will see shortly, there are only four steps to preparing and baking these cookies. They are so incredibly easy and taste awesome; you are going to want to have the recipe around all the time. You never know when a craving is going to strike! 

First Step: Start out by preheating the oven to 350°. Then use parchment paper to line two baking sheets and set aside.

Second Step: Whisk together the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.

Third Step: Using a stand mixer that has the paddle attachment, start beating the butter and brown sugar together until they are combined well and smooth. Slowly pour in the flour mixture and blend until combined. Next, pour in the cherries, cherry flavoring, vanilla, and egg. Beat until well combined. Then fold in the chocolate pieces.

Fourth Step: Place the dough by tablespoonfuls on the baking sheet. Leave 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spreading. Bake the cherry cholate cookies for 10-12 minutes. Once done, let them cool on the baking sheet 3 minutes or until almost firm. Take the cookies off of the baking sheet and let them cool completely on wire racks.

Enjoy!

Now, remember to save this recipe on Pinterest for later 🙂

Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate Cherry Heart Healthy Cookies are a decadent treat that also happens to be good for your heart. Loaded with cherries, bittersweet chocolate, old-fashioned oats, cinnamon, and more, they provide an explosion of flavors.

4.50 from 2 votes

Review Recipe

Ingredients 

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 teaspoon cherry flavoring
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add flour mixture and beat until blended. Add cherries, cherry flavoring, vanilla, and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate.
• Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove cookies from baking sheet and cool completely on wire racks.

Notes

Source: adapted from Cooking Light, January 2010

Author: Laura

If you love these chocolate cherry heart-smart cookies as much as I think you are going to, you are going to want to see some more cherry recipes. Cherries are so yummy, and I can never get enough of their excellent flavor. Here are some of the best cherry recipes ever. 

• Double Chocolate Cherry Muffins – These two irresistible flavors meet up again, but this time in some insanely good muffins. They are moist and tender. Fantastic for an easy breakfast or a snack. 
• Mini Cherry Pies – If you love flaky crust and cherries, then this is a match made in heaven you are going to want to try. These little cherry pies are lovely for all occasions too. 
• The Best Homemade Sweet Cherry Pie – There is vodka in the pie crust, and you will be in love with the flavors. Take this pie to all your parties and watch everyone eat it in amazement. 
• Crown Royal Cherry Brownies Balls – I lick my lips just thinking about sinking my teeth into one of these Crown Royal cherry brownie balls. Try them, and you’ll know how incredible they are.