My name is Shawnda and sometimes I eat cookies for breakfast.

But only sometimes. Usually on days where I’ve said something like, “I thought about running 4 miles, I half-way earned it!” (The things we tell ourselves, huh?)

These cookies could lovingly be called “Road Trip Cookies.” Because a gas-station granola bar somewhere between Houston and Lafayette inspired them.

And since I knew there would be a weekend of calorie-bomb debauchery in New Orleans ahead of me, they just seemed like a smart idea. At least, smarter than the Funyuns that I usually get.

Just like in that granola bar, the combination of dark chocolate, tart dried cherries, and a sprinkle of sea salt is completely amazing. But unlike that granola bar, they aren’t trying to hide under a healthy label.

These are cookies. Made with butter. And chocolate.

I took one of my favorite chewy cookie dough recipes and loaded it with a bag of 63% [swooooon] Guittard Dark Chocolate Chips, cherry-flavored craisins (because holy crap, dried cherries are $18/lb!), and finished them with a sprinkle of sea salt straight out of the oven.

Chewy, rich, sweet, tart, and salty. If that doesn’t say “breakfast” and “the perfect road trip food,” then I don’t know what does.

(Besides Funyuns.)

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Salted Dark Chocolate & Cherry Cookies

Thick and chewy cookies studded with dark chocolate, tart dried cherries, and sprinkled with sea salt.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 243.0 | Fat: 11.0g | Fiber 2.9g | Protein 2.5g | Carbs 36.5g

Ingredients

• 12 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups + 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 12 oz dark chocolate chips
• 7.5 oz dried cherries (or 1 1/2 bag Cherry Craisins)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Grease or line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicon mat.
3. Place butter and sugars in a mixer bowl, mix on medium high until well-combined, 2-3 minutes.
4. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla.
5. Add dry ingredients and mix on low just until combined. Add chocolate chips and cherries, just until combined.
6. Chill dough 15 minutes. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dough balls onto a lined baking sheet (my scoop is just under 1/2 cup and I break the dough into 2).
7. Bake 12-16 minutes, until the edges brown and the center is still soft.
8. Sprinkle with salt when they come out of the oven.
9. Let cool on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Notes

Yields: 24 cookies

Cookie dough base adapted from Cook's Illustrated