Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Cherries and Sea Salt

Add the coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract and egg to a large mixing bowl. Cream them together until smooth. If you have a stand mixer, go ahead and use it. You can also use an electric hand mixer, or a regular old whisk. Just make sure that you get the mixture as smooth as possible. You may notice there are some lumps of coconut oil. I recommend using a spatula to smoosh them. (I know that “smoosh” is not proper culinary terminology, but you know what I mean.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon of sea salt. Stir the flour mixture into the coconut oil/sugar mixture until just combined. Add the oats, chocolate chunks, cherries and pecans (if using) and mix until well combined. Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and pop it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Yes, you can skip this step, but your cookies will end up slightly less thick, and that’s on you.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat mats.

When the dough is cold, scoop tablespoon sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets 2-inches apart. Sprinkle each ball with a few flakes of the remaining sea salt.

Bake your cookies for 13-15 minutes (the exact cooking time will vary slightly depending on your oven and how cold your cookie dough is when it goes in) until they are slightly golden. Remove them from the oven and let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Note: Sometimes the cookies start to get slightly misshapen while they cook. I like to remove them from the oven after about 8 minutes and gently nudge them back into a round shape with the back of a spoon. Then put them back into the oven to finish baking.