Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries and Pecans

The name of the cookie makes me giggle every time I say or write it because it's about as long as the cokies are enormous. The truth is that just ats they are the most visually impressive cookies I have ever baked. And they are pretty tasty too- I have decided that adding dried cherries to cookies with chocolate is an excellent idea, as is making cookies with a texture that is smack in the middle of an oatmeal raisin and a chocolate chip.

If you read my food posts over on readymade.com (if you don't, please join the fun over there!) you may remember that I selected Seven Spoons as last week's blog of the week. I am smitten with the site and made these cookies the same night I found them. Which is rare for me, but my mom was visiting and I needed a thank you present for a friend, so I guess you could say that the stars aligned for baking. I had the urge to add coconut to the cookies, but the dough was kind of hard to mix since it was so full (I may have added extra chocolate chips...) so I decided to stick to the instructions for my first attempt.

As you can see, they are big. My mom kept saying that they looked like cookies you could buy at a bakery, which I think is the highest praise. But as my status as a cookie-baking novice should tell you, these are super easy, so I highly suggest you try them out the next time you need a gift or an easy dessert. Or, of course, just a good homemade cookie to eat yourself.

Here's a link to the recipe, which originally appeared in Cook's Illustrated. My picture was taken during our picnic lunch break at the Neil Smith. Right before we went buffalo watching.