Related: Check out four more vintage cookie recipes!

Last year, I drove almost to High Point to get the last green and red fruitcake cherries on any grocery shelf anywhere. We use somewhere between ½ and ¾ of the sugar that the recipe calls for, and although these cookies are good when they’re big, we prefer to use a scoop well smaller than a golf ball. After all, Christmas cookies are meant to be crowded onto a plate, 20 at a time.

Yield: About 3 dozen cookies.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups oats (not instant)
1½ cups candied red and green cherries

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer on low, combine butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Increase mixer speed to high and beat until fluffy and light in color.

Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until fully combined; do not overmix. Add the oats and cherries, stirring to incorporate.

Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to measure out dough, about 2 tablespoons at a time. Drop 2 inches apart onto a baking sheet prepared with nonstick spray. Place on center rack of oven and bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden but still moist beneath cracks on top.

Remove from oven; let cookies sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.