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!
4ounces(1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½cuptightly packed light brown sugar
¼cup plus 2 tablespoonsgranulated sugar
1large egg
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1cupsemisweet chocolate chips
1cupquick or old-fashioned rolled oats
¾cupdried 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.
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.