White Chocolate Chip-Cherry Cookies

Those who know me well know that I love cookies. It's just the perfect little treat. While good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies will never get old, I like to switch it up a bit. A while back, I took one of my favorite, trusted cookie recipes, swapped out the whole wheat flour for white whole wheat flour (the consistency is a bit finer and the taste is slightly sweeter) and used white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips. And then, I still felt like something was missing. So I scanned my kitchen and saw the dried cherries. Bingo!

White Chocolate Chip-Cherry Cookies

Yield: about 24 cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 16-20 minutes

Total Time: about 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS: 

3 cups white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 oz. white chocolate chips

1 cup dried cherries

DIRECTIONS:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment (or tin-foil).

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Put the butter and sugars in a large bowl. With electric beaters (or a stand mixer with paddle attachment) on low to medium speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended. (This may take a while depending on how cold the butter is.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. 

Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. 

Add the white chocolate chips and dried cherries and incorporate with a wooden spoon. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed.

Scoop mounds of dough, about 3 tablespoons in size (yes, larger than your typical c.c. cookie), onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2-3 inches in between each cookie. You should be able to fit about 8 cookies on each sheet. 

Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned.

You can thank me later.