Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 12 – 14 minutes

These Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are filled with fresh cranberries, oats, chocolate chips, pecans and butter from local Oregon Dairy farmers. This cookie is a delicious and simple holiday cookie recipe to add to your baking list that everyone will absolutely love.

Baking Tips: Why This Recipe Works

Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies is a classic cookie.  In this recipe brown sugar helps create a moist and chewy cookie and semi-sweet chocolate chips balances out the sweetness of the cookie.  But what takes this cookie to the next level is the inclusion of fresh Oregon cranberries.  The zingy cranberries add a burst of tart flavor to the sweet cookie and pair really well with the chocolate and the pecans.  It’s a delicious cookie and it’ll be hard to eat just one.  

But to have a really good cookie, you need good butter and butter made in Oregon will ensure that your cookies come out delicious and irresistible. Oregon is home to nearly 180 dairy farms that supply milk for a variety of dairy products. 

How to Make These Cookies

This cookie recipe is easy to make in 4 easy steps:

Start by combining the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and whisk together.

Then cream on medium-high speed in a stand mixer the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until the mixture is lighter in color and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each adding.  Add the flour and mix on low speed to avoid a tough cookie.  Next add the oats and mix slow.

Now add the mix-ins: the fresh cranberries, the pecans and the chocolate chips.  

Chill the cookie dough and then use a large cookie scoop to form large balls.  Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown but the center appears soft and slightly underbaked.

Instructions:

Place the cranberries in a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times to roughly chop the cranberries or chop the cranberries by hand with sharp knife.

Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt in medium-sized bowl and whisk for 30 seconds to combine.

Place the brown sugar, granulated sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.  With the paddle attachment beat the sugar and butter on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes unit lighter in color and looks fluffy, stopping the mixer after 1 minute to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the eggs one at time, mixing on medium after each addition until the egg is incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture in 3 batches mixing on low speed after each addition.  Add the oats, toasted pecans, and chocolate chips and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Add the chopped cranberries and mix on low speed to incorporate.  Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure the ingredients are well mixed in.

Chill the dough for 12 hours.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a half-baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit a room temperature for 10 minutes.  Letting it sit at room temperature will make it easier to handle.

Use a large cookie scoop to scoop the dough into large balls that weigh 55 grams each.  Place 6 balls of dough on the baking sheet and press into 1/2-inch thick disks.  If you do not have a large cookie scoop, simply weigh out 55 grams of dough then roughly shape into a ball with your hands then press into disks.

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the centers are blond and appear slightly underdone.  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

 

Recipe and photo by Cheryl Norris at BakesByBrownSugar.com.