Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

Had it not been for my mother-in-law asking me about this week's treat, there may not have been one. These past few days have been busy and cooking was not even on my radar. But I thought for the love of Tuesday I ought to kick it into gear and find a recipe for SWEET TOOTH DAY! Sticking with January's healthy eating theme I have found a heart smart recipe. These are similar to the cookies I made two weeks ago. I guess I'm on a cookie with dried fruit and chocolate chunks kick. But it's no secret that I'm always on a cookie kick. Let's see if these puppies can top my recent favorite...golden oreos. Curse those darned cookies with creme. Get out of my pantry! Someone (that being me) keeps buying them. Looks like a have some new and healthier cookie to munch on for the next few days. And the best part is these good-sized cookies only have 95 calories!

Lord bless my pantry! I'm slowly getting stocked up on the staples of baking. I actually didn't leave any ingredients out of this recipe. Ha! I think that's a first. This recipe was super simple, super fast.

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 salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup dried cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add cherries, vanilla, and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate.
4. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

My favorite thing about these cookies....they are so soft and gooey when you bite into them straight out of the oven. Well, maybe not straight out of the oven...please don't burn your mouth. But whatever you do....dunk them in a glass of milk. This lil guy had the right idea all along...

If you give a mouse a cookie.

I wonder if Mr. Mouse would be able to tell the difference between a cookie with white sugar and a cookie without white sugar. Because I can. Not a huge difference, but guess what? The chocolate, cherries and oats in this cookie give plenty of flavor to make up for it lacking my favorite ingredient. ;) Oh yeah, one more thing.....ENJOY!!