Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Cherry, Chocolate, and Macadamia Nuts

an ode to cherry season

I will always think of my grandfather when I eat cherries. He was born on the first day of summer. He loves relish and potato chips and cherries and has an oven full of white wine which he keeps for long, hot days and in case of emergencies. He is the person who taught me first how to swim, how to move with the tide, how cup the ocean in the palm of my hands and how to let it go. He is perhaps the warmest person I know. He was born on the first day of summer.

Growing up, we would spend every August with him and my grandmother at their house on Cape Cod. The house was small, set back off the main drag, a busy street called Bumps River Road that was lined on either side with honeysuckles. When I talk about it now I feel as though I’m describing some story I read when I was a kid. It was the kind of place where, when we were small enough to, we would bathe in the kitchen sink. Where, in the backyard, the grass never grew and still my grandfather would push around us in a wheelbarrow that was orange and rusted. My grandmother had a sweet tooth and she used to keep those iced oatmeal cookies in the cupboard next to the mixing bowls and colanders. They were impossibly hard, so much so they could break your tooth of you weren’t careful. But they were wonderful with milk and they tasted of cinnamon and cedar wood.

Every year around this time of year, it’s natural for me to lament the summers I spent on Cape Cod and all of the summers I will never spend there again. But there are certain things, I’m coming to learn, that are only ever meant to exist in memory. That it is distinctly possible to overstay one’s welcome in the company of things that are good and easy.

These cookies aren’t nostalgic, per se. They don’t capture the way things felt nor the way things tasted when I was a kid. But they are delicious and simple, and pay homage to that time. It’s the first days of summer. I hope you enjoy.

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Ingredients

1-1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup rolled or quick oats

1-1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp espresso powder

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, browned

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dry sour cherries

¾ cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup roasted, salted macadamia nuts, chopped

Flakey sea salt to top

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Prep Time: 20 minutes | Rest Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 12-15 large cookies

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Method

1. Brown your butter—in a small saucepan, add your butter and heat over medium. Continue cooking, occasionally stirring with a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan, through three phases: melting, foaming—as the butter continues to heat, it will begin to sputter, foam then bubble. This is due to the water content in the butter evaporating and the milk solids separating—browning—the milk solids, initially white, will begin to turn golden brown (this is when the butter develops its signature nutty flavor). Once it’s darkened in color, remove from heat and transfer immediately to a bowl to let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine your dry ingredients. Gently stir together flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.

3. Using a large knife or a food processor, chop your macadamia nuts into pea sized pieces (it’s okay if some are different sizes) and set aside.

4. Once your butter has had a chance to cool, add in your sugars. Using an electric mixer on medium or whisking vigorously, beat together until it's formed a cohesive mixture and has lightened slightly in color, about 3-5 minutes. Add in your eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

5. Using a spatula, fold in your flour mixture and then your oats, making sure to scrape the bottom as you go. Add in your cherries, chocolate and nuts. Fold until they are combined and evenly distributed throughout the batter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

   

6. When you’re ready to bake, remove dough from the fridge. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Using your hands or a spoon, roll cookies into 80 gram rounds—or about 2 inch balls. Place 6 on each cookie sheet, making sure there is enough space between them, and bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating and swapping racks after 8-10 minutes. They will be dark brown on the outside and fairly light on the inside—you don’t want to over bake.

7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the top with large, flakey sea salt. Let cool on the cookie sheet about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack or a plate and enjoy.