Cherries and almonds go together like peanut butter & jelly — one of those match-made-in-heaven flavor combinations. I know AK readers are obsessed with all things cherry, so I knew I wanted to create a cookie for you that infused those beautiful flavors.
Say hello to my NEW cherry almond oatmeal cookies with cherry icing. These babies have toasted almonds rolled into the dough and scattered on top, plus a pretty icing made from real, frozen tart cherries. They’re perfectly chewy (just like all of my oatmeal cookies), and the almond + cherry flavors truly shine with the help of amaretto and almond extract.
Uh-huh, Day 4 of AK Cookie Week is looking GOOD. Bake these up for your cherry-obsessed loved ones and enjoy!
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Everything you’ll need to make these cherry almond oatmeal cookies
We’re taking chewy oatmeal cookies that you know and love and infusing them with delicious almond and cherry flavors from a few special ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Almonds: we’re toasting up sliced almonds and adding them to the cookie dough itself and on top of the icing.
- Butter: softened, salted butter gives the cookies their moisture. As always, feel free to use unsalted butter if you’d like.
- Sugar: sweeten the cookies with a mix of light brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Eggs: we’re using a full egg and an egg yolk for the perfect, chewy consistency.
- Flavor boosters: a touch of amaretto and almond extract really bring out the almond and cherry flavors in the cookies. Don’t skip it!
- Flour: you’ll need all-purpose flour to bake these beauties. See below for a gluten-free option!
- Oats: because they’re oatmeal cookies! You’ll need old-fashioned rolled oats in this recipe.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking soda and salt.
- For the icing: that pretty cherry icing uses real, frozen pitted tart cherries cooked down in granulated sugar, then gets mixed with powdered sugar, more almond extract, and a little milk to thin.
What is amaretto?
Amaretto is a sweet liqueur that has an almond-like flavor because it’s typically made with either bitter almonds or apricot kernels (which have a compound that mimics the flavor of almonds!) A tablespoon of amaretto really brings out the flavor in these cookies!
Can I make them gluten-free or dairy-free?
- To make gluten-free: simply use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour and gluten-free rolled oats.
- To make dairy-free: use softened vegan butter and dairy-free milk. I used almond milk in the icing!
How to make chewy almond oatmeal cookies
- Toast the almonds. You’ll start by toasting your sliced almonds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven until they’re golden brown. Make sure you watch carefully so you don’t burn them!
- Mix the wet ingredients. Cream the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer, then mix in the eggs and flavor boosters.
- Add the dry. Mix in the dry ingredients, then fold in some of the cooled, toasted almonds.
- Bake the cookies. Scoop and roll your dough into balls, place on a prepared baking sheet, and bake until just golden on the edges. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet, then let them finish cooling on a wire rack.
- Make the icing. Cook the frozen cherries in a small pot with sugar, stirring and mashing them with the back of a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens. Pour the cherry filling through a small sieve into a bowl, then mix with the rest of the icing ingredients.
- Ice & devour. Spoon the icing over your cooled cookies, sprinkle with toasted almonds, then let the icing harden before digging in!
Try a blueberry version
While the flavors of cherries and almonds really complement each other, blueberries are also a great option for the icing! Feel free to swap the frozen tart cherries for frozen blueberries if you’d like — you’ll get a pretty blue/purple icing instead of pink/red.
How to store & freeze these almond oatmeal cookies
- To store: store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: you can actually freeze the cookie dough OR the freshly baked cookies to enjoy later! Get all of my tips and tricks for freezing cookies here.
Tools you’ll need
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Cookie dough scoop
- Cooling rack
- Small pot
- Wooden spoon
- Mixing bowl
- Mesh sieve
Get all of my kitchen essentials here!
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Salted Caramel Stuffed Chocolate Snickerdoodles
- Santa’s Naughty Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Truly Exceptional Salted Banana Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Chocolate Chunk Toasted Marshmallow Ginger Cookies
- Italian Cherry Almond Cookies (dairy free & gluten free!)
Get all of my cookie recipes here!
I hope you love these iced cherry almond oatmeal cookies! If you make them, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Iced Cherry Toasted Almond Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- Almonds
- 1 cup (100 grams) sliced almonds
- Wet ingredients
- 1 cup (226 grams) salted butter, softened
- 1 cup (213 grams) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon amaretto
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Dry ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cup (127 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cherry Icing
- 1 cup (150 grams) frozen pitted tart cherries (or sub frozen blueberries)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups (170 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk of choice, plus more as needed
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Toast the almonds: Place sliced almonds on the baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden brown, fragrant and crunchy, stirring halfway through, 10 to 13 minutes total. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Keep heat in the oven.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, amaretto, and almond extract and mix again on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the dry ingredients: Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and mix on medium-low speed until just combined, about 1 minute. Add ½ cup (50 grams) toasted almonds (the remaining will be used as a garnish) and mix on low speed until just incorporated into the dough, 30 seconds.
- Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with more dough, placing the balls 2 inches apart, until you’ve filled up the baking sheet. (Not all cookies will fit on the sheet in one batch.) If for some reason, the dough is too wet and you have an issue with spreading, cover the dough and chill the dough for 1 hour in the fridge.
- Bake the cookies: Bake until the cookies are just golden brown on the edges, 10 to 13 minutes. Cool the cookies on the sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once the baking sheet has cooled, repeat with remaining dough.
- While the cookies cool, cook the cherries: In a small pot, combine the cherries and sugar and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, and mashing cherries down with the back of a wooden spoon, until the cherries break down and release their juices and the mixture slightly thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Make the icing: Place a small sieve over a medium bowl. Add cherry filling to the sieve and use a spoon to mash down the filling. This will strain out any large pieces of cherries. You should have about 1 to 2 tablespoons of cherry liquid. In the same medium bowl as the cherry liquid, add the powdered sugar, milk and almond extract and whisk until a thick icing forms. Add more milk to thin, a teaspoon at a time, if the icing is too thick.
- Ice the cookies: Spoon 2 teaspoons of icing on top of each cookie and spread out as best as you can with a spoon, then return to the wire rack and immediately sprinkle with a few toasted almonds on top. Allow icing to harden completely before enjoying, about 10 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
These cookies are incredible! I didn’t have amaretto and skipped it, and I still found that they had plenty of almond flavor. Will be adding these permanently to the Christmas cookie rotation!
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
I am not having luck with these cookies. I maked the dough exactly as the recipe states and the cookies were very flat/thin. I remade and chillded the dough for 30 minutes and they stayed thicker but browned too much on the bottom. Will try one more time and then I am giving up…..was going to take these to a cookie exchange but even if the last batch works I will not have enough.
Hi! So sorry to hear that these are giving you trouble — are you weighing your ingredients? I had multiple different people on my team test these, and they all turned out perfectly after weighing, so I’m suspecting that might be the culprit!
A fun oatmeal cookie variation. Great addition of color and flavors for holiday cookie boxes. Baked the first handful per instructions, and they spread an absurd amount. But I was able to scoot them together with a biscuit cutter. Threw the rest in the fridge to chill and found an at least 15 minute chill was ideal with a baking time on the longer end. Using 2 tablespoon scoops made 20 cookies and a lil baby cookie.
Hi! I’m glad they turned out well after being chilled, but I’d love to help troubleshoot. Did you by chance weigh your ingredients?
I liked the cookies, but the icing was very disappointing- it did not have much of a cherry flavor (what I was looking forward to the most) and the recipe did not make enough for all of the cookies. I put just the smallest drizzle on and one third of my cookies didn’t have any.
Hi! I’m so sorry you had an issue. Did you weigh your ingredients? 150g of cherries and 170g of powdered sugar should make plenty of frosting for all of the cookies. In terms of cherry flavor, you could add chopped dried cherries to the dough next time!
I’ve tried twice and failed at these cookies. Should they be chilled? My cookies spread too big, were flat, and crispy. Then the icing never set and it was pink at first and by the next day it turned blue/purple and looked moldy (they were stored in air tight containers). Would love to know what I could adjust bc they sound like a great cookie but this recipe is not executing as written.
Hi! I’m not sure what’s going on but this recipe has been tested 4 times by professional testers including myself. I’m wondering if you weighted the ingredients? Also was your butter melted or softened? did you use rolled oats or quick oats? You used the proper almonds amount? I haven’t had an issue with the icing at all, and mold wouldn’t appear that quickly. It sounds like perhaps you may have added too much milk to the icing so it didn’t set. I’m going to retest these again soon and report back!
These were fabulous! So flavorful
Glad you enjoyed!!