Toasted oat, cherry and hazelnut cookies, Michael Keaton again and the readers

I know I’ve told you several times already that I love having a food blog and I’ve given you lots of reasons for that, but what can I do if that is the absolute truth? My readers keep on giving me joy and I apologize for being sounding like a broken record. :)

Days ago I posted on the Facebook that I now that I have two baby nephews I started browsing baby clothes in department stores and got so mad because 90% of them are for girls – it was a matter of moments before many readers commented that they had boys, too, and agreed with me, and others even recommended websites in which I can find more options. How great is that? I mean, I have a food blog but I can write about anything I want and get a nice response from the readers.

Something else that I love is when they see something cool and think of me: today, for instance, a reader sent me this link because of my love for Birdman and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes – I am now, more than ever, hoping that Michael Keaton takes the award home next Sunday. Thank you, Andreza! I loved the video!

I get such nice messages and they surely make me want to go on writing on this blog and bringing you good, delicious recipes – the cookies I bring you today are like a tasty version of granola bars and they can be adapted to your liking: the hazelnuts and dried cherries can be replaced by other nuts and dried fruit, such as almonds, Brazil nuts, dried apricots, raisins… I even think that rye flour could be used here – its nuttiness would go beautifully well with the flavor of the hazelnuts.

Toasted oat, cherry and hazelnut cookies
slightly adapted from the oh, so beautiful Scandilicious Baking

150g rolled oats
50g flaked hazelnuts
100g all purpose flour
50g whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt
125g unsalted butter, softened
100g light brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g sour cream*
75g dried cherries, halved if too large

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Place the oats and hazelnuts in a medium baking pan and roast for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Cool (turn off the oven).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in the egg. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture, sour cream, oats and hazelnut and cherries and stir just until incorporated. Cover and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Using 2 leveled tablespoons of dough for each cookie, drop batter onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake cookies until the edges are golden brown and the centers are still slightly soft, 12-14 minutes.
Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then slide the paper with the cookies onto a wire rack and cool completely.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 28