These easy, chewy Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies feature crispy, crackly edges, tart-sweet dried cranberries, and gooey chocolate chips. They're a bit like a mashup of chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, but elevated with dried cranberries in place of the classic raisins. All I can say is YUM!
(This recipe was originally published in February 2015, but was updated with new photos and content in 2020).
Everyone who bakes seems to have a go-to cookie recipe. When you’re simultaneously craving both chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, there's a recipe for that.
These Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are the incredible combination of both classic cookie flavor profiles in one, but they’re even better because you swap out the raisins for dried cranberries.
What I perhaps love most about these cookies is the balance of flavors and textures that create what is in my opinion the PERFECT cookie. It's a little bit crispy and a lot chewy.
You have even more chewiness from the tart and sweet dried cranberries and rustic oats. The chocolate chips steal the show (like they tend to do), but the underlying fragrance of cinnamon and vanilla work harmoniously to add yet another dimension.
Ingredient notes
- Chocolate Chips: Nomenclature varies a bit by brand, but use a variety labeled semisweet, bittersweet, or dark chocolate chips for best results. I usually prefer Trader Joe’s and Nestle Toll House brands.
- Oats: Use rolled oats for this recipe (as opposed to steel-cut). There are a few different types of rolled oats you’ll find in a supermarket. The best choices will be labeled either old-fashioned oats or quick oats. Quaker Oats is a popular brand of oats in the United States. I also enjoy Bob’s Red Mill and Trader Joe’s brands.
- Dried Cranberries: Ocean Spray sells their version of dried cranberries called Craisins, but any dried cranberries will work in this recipe. I usually like purchasing mine at Trader Joe’s or ALDI. If you can’t find dried cranberries for some reason, you can replace them with other dried fruits like raisins, dried blueberries, or dried cherries (chopped into smaller pieces) for a different flavor profile.
- Light Brown Sugar: Store your brown sugar in its tightly sealed original bag placed inside a sealed freezer bag with all the air pressed out. The key is to squeeze out all the air from both the original bag (do the best you can) and then put it in another airtight container. This will keep your brown sugar soft and fresh much longer!
- Vanilla Extract: I prefer using pure vanilla extract as opposed to artificial vanilla. Nielsen-Massey makes an exceptional vanilla extract. I also like the extract sold at Trader Joe’s.
How to make them
Begin by combining your dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and kosher salt) in a mixing bowl. Then in the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together room temperature unsalted butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar. It should be light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides before moving on.
Next, add an egg followed by vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, then add the dry ingredients and combine. Finally, add in your oats, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries. Now you're ready to scoop and bake.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Next, scoop your cookies onto your baking sheets. I recommend this medium Oxo cookie scoop for portioning the cookies evenly.
This recipe makes about 26 cookies if you use this size scoop. That's just over 2 dozen. Space the cookies about 2 inches apart, fitting 13 cookies per sheet.
Bake them for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Cool the cookies and serve!
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips and FAQs
- I recommend using an electric mixer to mix the dough, but if you don’t have one you can mix by hand using a wooden spoon. You’ll just need a bit of extra elbow grease to beat the mixture together. It’s not ideal, but it’s doable.
- If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can definitely portion out your cookies by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto your baking sheet. Just do your best to make sure they are roughly the same size, and evenly spaced out.
- You can make large cookies with this same recipe. Portion out the dough into larger scoops using an ice cream scoop to yield 18 cookies (place 6 on each of 3 baking sheets). The larger cookies may require an extra minute or two of baking time!
- To know visually when the cookies are ready, they should be faintly brown and set just at the edges. The centers will still be soft. As the cookies cool, they will firm up to the optimal chewy texture.
These cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature. Although if I'm being honest I don't think they'll last that long. You'll definitely eat them faster than that!
Scoop out the dough onto a cafeteria tray or sheet pan as you would to bake it. Freeze the scooped balls of dough until frozen solid, then transfer the frozen balls into a freezer bag, and label with the date. Frozen cookie dough can last about 3 months in the freezer.
Remove as many balls of dough as you desire from the freezer and partially thaw them in the refrigerator. You can bake from a frozen state, but I always feel like they don’t spread out as nicely so I recommend at least partially defrosting the frozen cookie dough scoops in the fridge before baking. Bake as directed in the recipe. You may need an extra minute or two of baking time since the dough will be cold or even partially frozen.
Use up leftover ingredients with these recipes
- Cranberry Sage Pie (Dried Cranberries)
- Gobble Gobble Balls (Thanksgiving Meatballs) (Dried Cranberries)
- Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with Oats and Pecans (Oats)
- Guinness Bread (Oats)
- Pear Ginger Oatmeal Crumb Pie (Oats)
- Milk Bar's Compost Cookies (Oats & Chocolate Chips)
- Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies (Chocolate Chips)
- Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (Chocolate Chips)
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup tightly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup quick or old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low for 1 minute, then beat on medium for 2 minutes until combined. Stop and scrape down the sides, then beat again for 2 more minutes until smooth.
- Scrape down again, and add the egg, beating on medium for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and add vanilla. Then beat for 15 seconds more.
- Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the dry ingredients; mix until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate chips, oats, and cranberries and mix on low until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Using a small 1 ½-tablespoon capacity ice cream/cookie scoop (#40 size), portion cookies onto prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake on top and center racks of the oven for 18 to 22 minutes, switching the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking time, until cookies are lightly golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature on the baking sheets, about 30 minutes. Store in a tightly sealed plastic container for several days at room temperature.
Notes
- These cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container at room temperature.
- I recommend this #40 size medium Oxo cookie scoop for portioning the cookies evenly.
- You can make large cookies with this same recipe. Portion out the dough into larger scoops using a #12 size ice cream scoop to yield 18 cookies (place 6 on each of 3 baking sheets). The larger cookies may require an extra minute or two of baking time!
- To freeze: scoop out the dough as you would to bake. Freeze the scooped balls of dough until frozen solid. Transfer the frozen balls into a freezer bag, and label with the date. Frozen cookie dough can last about 3 months in the freezer. When ready to bake, remove as many balls of dough as you desire, and partially thaw them in the refrigerator (you can bake from a frozen state, but I always feel like they don’t spread out as nicely). Bake as directed in the recipe. You may need an extra minute or two of baking time since the dough will be cold or even partially frozen.
- Adapted from I’m Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Janet says
Loved by everyone!! Big Hit! Highly recommended
Audrey says
Delicious cookies! And easy to whip up! Loved the tips for leftover ingredients! Thank you!!
Mary Kabakian says
One of the best cookie recipes ever!
Camille says
I tried these tonight!! They’re so delicious!!