Ingredients

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar (Splenda brown sugar mix works well here)

½ cup white sugar (Splenda baking blend works well)

1 teasp vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

1½ cups all-purpose flour (use dip and sweep method to measure)

½ teasp salt

1 teasp baking powder

¼ teasp nutmeg

½ teasp cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup (6 ounces) dried cherries

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips/chunks

1 cup whole pecans, toasted then coarsely chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350.

In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter, both sugars, and the vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium-low, add the eggs one at a time and beat for 20 seconds.

Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinammon. Add sifted ingredients to the butter mixture. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, mix until blended. Stir in oats, cherries, chocolate, and nuts till evenly blended.

Form dough into balls about 2 inches in diameter (an ice cream scoop is handy here) and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 14 to 17 minutes, until the bottom edges are just browned.

Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.