Sour Cherries

A few weeks ago Nate and I were in Door County, Wisconsin celebrating the marriage of two of our friends. Plagued with jetlag on the morning of the wedding and up hours before anyone else we took the opportunity to explore Door County. I had never been to Wisconsin and was pleasantly surprised. We were right on the lake, the weather was perfect, and the people were so friendly. Really friendly. Like we had a friend running late for the wedding who had to change in a gas station, and the lady running the station offered to iron his shirt friendly. Early that morning we drove past cherry orchard after cherry orchard. Sour cherries, often Montmorency, grow in these parts.

Since we were up early we got the first sour cherry pie out of the oven at a local pie shop, and had it for breakfast!

I couldn't really bring baskets of sour cherries back to London, so I brought back the dried version instead. Can't really make a delicious pie with dried fruit (unless its mincemeat pie), so I used the dried sour cherries to make one of my favorite cookie recipes - Oatmeal cookies with sour cherries and chocolate covered toffee bits. 

OATMEAL COOKIES + SOUR CHERRIES & TOFFEE

• 1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 c butter, room temp
• 3/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 1 egg, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c rolled oats
• 1 c dried sour cherries, roughly chopped
• 1 c crushed chocolate covered toffee bars like Skor or Daim (about five 28g bars)

METHOD

Put flour, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter with both sugars till light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract. Fold in dry ingredients. Fold in oats, chopped cherries and toffee bits. Chill dough for two hours. Use a small ice cream scoop to divide dough into balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350F oven. Do not overbake - these are good a little bit underdone. Makes about 36 small cookies.

Today in London it seems as fall has already arrived with cool temps, wind and rain. A busy summer with finishing my dissertation and travel has also come to end. To ease the changing of seasons I'm baking cookies and reading fiction. 

There are certain books that from the first few sentences you know you'll love. You rush to get through them because you can't wait to see how it turns out. Then there are those books that can be a struggle, and each sentence read is forgotten and the words fail to create a picture in your head. Every once in a while you come across a book that is so great you're almost part of the story, dreading the end. You find yourself rereading sentences as you go along, partially to extend the time you get to spend with the book and partially to make sure you haven't missed a single thing the author has written. I'm in the middle of one of those kinds right now...a book about a family breeding dogs on a remote farm in Wisconsin. Might not sound like much but I'm totally engrossed with the story. 

Comments

[elra]

That oatmeal cookies and sour cherry sounds really delicious.

[Jackie]

Love the addition of sour cherries and Skor bar in an oatmeal cookie. I read the Edgar Sawtelle book a few months back and could not put it down either. Looking forward to trying this recipe.

[Sophie]

MMMMMMM,...the oeatmeal cookies & sour cherries together must taste apart & lovely! Yummie!

[The Duo Dishes]

Definitely support the cherry oatmeal cookie!

[lisa (dandysugar)]

What a great hearty cookie. I just love the addition of sour cherries and a yummy crushed toffee bar. =)

Welcome back and congrats on completing your dissertation!! Baking cookies is always one of my favorite ways to relax.

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

Cherry oatmeal cookies sound fantastic! I adore sour cherries!

[Lori]

That pie looks great, but I have to admit I am just as much of a fan of dried cherries. So tart and, as you mentioned, you can take them anywhere.

Thanks for mentioning that book. It sounds really interesting to me too. Love it when they turn out to be great.

[Sam]

I just love sour cherries, Paired with toffee peices makes for an amazing looking cookie!

[cheffresco]

Aww how fun! Love this!

[OysterCulture]

Sounds like such fun, and Wisconsin can be such a pretty place to visit, although the last time we drove through the thing we noticed was the speed traps. You're right about the friendliness, that's one thing I miss about not living back in the Midwest - people are so much more open and willing to help you even if they never met you before. I tried to be like that when I first moved out here, and got treated with such suspicion.

You're oatmeal cookies sound fabulous. I've been on an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie trip lately and these sound like a good change. I promised to make a big batch for hubby before I leave for Ireland on Thursday.

[gastroanthropologist]

OysterCulture - You must be excited for your trip - can't wait to hear where your mother and you end up going (and eating and drinking!).

[Tangled Noodle]

There are some positives about jetlag and getting up earlier than anyone else - fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven pie! That looks fantastic. It's great you were able to bring a bit of that flavor back with you. These cookies look so good; my husband doesn't like fruits (i.e. raisins) in his oatmeal cookies but I'm sure he wouldn't object to chocolate and sour cherries!