I can't believe it's been so long since we had any cookies around here. I admit, I got so caught up with delicious summer fruit and ice cream and preserves that I forgot how nice it is to have a little portable sweet treat lying around. These are the chewy centered, crispy edged variety of oatmeal cookies which just happen to be my personal favorite and I like to sprinkle them with a little salt before heading into the oven too. If sweet/salty isn't your thing feel free to skip the step, but if you've never tried it, give it a go with a cookie or two. They would make a great lunch box dessert if you have kiddos heading off to school this fall and after you tuck one or two in their lunch boxes you can eat a few for breakfast with your morning coffee. I mean, they're made of oatmeal right?

Oatmeal Chocoalte Cherry Cookies

adapted from BAKED

yield 18 cookies

3/4c flour

1/2t baking soda

1/2t sea salt (plus a bit more to sprinkle on top of the cookies)

1/2t cinnamon (I used Saigon Cinnamon from Penzey's that was super strong, so if you use another variety you may want a little more here)

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1/2c butter

3/4c brown sugar

1 egg

1t vanilla extract

1 1/2c rolled oats

1/2c chopped dried cherries

1/2c chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375ºF

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a bowl with a hand mixer) cream the butter and the sugars, then add the egg and mix until combined, then add the vanilla.

3. WIth the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Then remove the bowl from the mixer, add the oats, chocolate and cherries and stir them in by hand.

4. Divide the mixture into 18 even balls, I used a cookie scoop about the size of a generous tablespoon and place on two parchment lined cookie sheets. Gently press the cookies down to ensure they spread and sprinkle each one with a tiny bit of sea salt.

5. Slide the sheets into the oven and bake the cookies until lightly golden on the edges and soft in the middle, about 12min. Don't forget to rotate the pans halfway through baking. Cool the cookies on the sheets for a few minutes then remove them to a wire rack and try not to eat the whole batch all at once.

These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for about 3 days.