Cranberry oatmeal cookies have that old-fashioned Christmas magic that makes you want to put on an apron and bake things. They're cozy, a little nostalgic, and require absolutely no artistic talent with a piping bag.
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🥰 Are these cranberry oatmeal white chocolate cookies for you?
- You like your oatmeal cookies chewy in the middle with crisp edges.
- You want something festive that doesn't require an advanced degree in cookie decorating.
- You need a Christmas cookie that travels and freezes well.
- You'd rather spend your time eating cookies than fussing with them. A philosophy I wholeheartedly support.
🧾 Ingredients
Just a handful of pantry basics plus a few festive extras turn everyday oatmeal cookies into Christmas-cookie royalty.
- All-purpose flour - Nothing fancy. The dependable workhorse of the baking world.
- Old-fashioned oats - Old-fashioned oats give you that chewy oatmeal-cookie texture we came here for.
- Salt - Because sweet things need boundaries.
- Baking soda and baking powder - Yes, both. They have separate jobs and apparently a union.
- Butter - Use real butter. This is Christmas, not a hostage situation.
- Granulated sugar - For sweetness and those lightly crisp edges.
- Brown sugar - Brings the chewiness and a little caramel flavor to the party.
- Egg - The designated peacekeeper holding everything together.
- Orange zest - Brightens everything up without making the cookies taste like orange juice.
- Orange extract - Just enough to make the cranberry flavor pop. You can use Triple Sec if you prefer.
- Vanilla extract - Because cookies without vanilla seem unnecessarily sad.
- Craisins (dried cranberries) - Tart, chewy little pockets of tangy Christmas joy.
- White chocolate chips - Creamy sweetness in every bite. Be generous. Nobody is auditing you.
- Vanilla candy coating - For dipping the finished cookies and making them look impressive.
- Pecans - Toast them first. It takes a few minutes and makes a huge difference.
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Print Pin Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup pure cane sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract, or 1 tablespoon Triple Sec
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats, uncooked
- 1 ½ cups dried cranberries, usually called craisins
- 1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 12 oz vanilla candy coating, often called "candy melts"
- Holiday sprinkles as desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- Beat butter and sugars together until well combined.
- Beat in egg, orange flavoring (or Triple Sec), and vanilla extract. Beat well.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, orange zest, and salt.
- Mix until combined.
- Mix oats, cranberries, pecans, and white chocolate chips.
- Add oat mixture to flour mixture and blend well.
- Place heaping teaspoon-sized balls of cookie dough onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet.
- Bake 8-9 minutes.
- Do not over bake. They'll look a little undercooked when you take them out.
- Let cookies cool.
- Once cookies are cool, melt the coating in a bowl in the microwave. It takes about 2 minutes.
- Dip cookies, one at a time, into the glaze.
- Sprinkle with holiday sprinkles, colored sugar, or whatever you like.
Notes
- If you want softer cranberries in your cookies, soak the dried cranberries in warm water for 10 minutes, drain well and pat dry. The moisture will really soften the cranberries.
- Keep your cookie dough balls about the same size for even baking.
- Use old fashioned oats or quick oats in this recipe, not instant oatmeal.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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🔪 How to make cranberry oatmeal cookies
These come together fast, so you're never more than a few minutes away from warm cookies and questionable portion control. 🍪
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream together butter and sugar, then add in egg, orange extract and vanilla extract.
- Blend in the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix until combined.
- Mix together oats, cranberries, pecans and white chocolate chips, then add to the flour mixture.
- Drop onto prepared baking sheets by teaspoon fulls and bake.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍪 The cookies spread into pancakes.
Your butter was probably too warm. It should be softened, not halfway to becoming a sauce. If the dough feels unusually soft, chill it for 15 to 20 minutes before baking.
🍪 They're crunchy instead of chewy.
They baked too long. Take them out when the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look a little underdone. They'll finish setting up on the baking sheet.
🍪 They're dry.
Measure the flour carefully and don't pack it into the measuring cup. Too much flour is one of the quickest ways to turn a perfectly good cookie into building material.
🍪 The cookies aren't spreading enough.
Too much flour or butter that wasn't soft enough is usually the culprit. The dough should be soft and easy to scoop.
🍪 The white chocolate coating gets thick or lumpy.
White chocolate has the temperament of a Victorian heiress. Melt it gently and slowly, stirring often. If it gets too hot, it will seize.
🍪 The bottoms are getting too brown.
Use a light-colored baking sheet lined with parchment and bake in the center of the oven. Dark pans tend to brown cookie bottoms faster.
📚 More festive cranberry recipes
🏡 The story behind the cookies
December 1, 2014
My mom did not bake except at Christmas, so growing up even the lowliest cookie became a holiday cookie. Oatmeal, chocolate chip, whatever she made meant Christmas was on its way.
I'm also ridiculously picky about cookie texture. I want them chewy in the middle with crispy edges. By golly, if I'm going to nosh down a couple hundred empty calories, they'd better be delicious ones.
This batch was split up and sent to Las Vegas, Virginia Beach, and Okinawa, Japan. Over the years I've mailed cookies with dried fruit to Korea, Iraq, Misawa, and plenty of other far-off places because they stay moist and travel especially well.
It took about 11 days for a box to get from Dallas to Okinawa, so choosing cookies that would still taste like cookies when they arrived, rather than sweetened drywall, was kind of important.
As Kyrie said in 2014, Boom, y'all! These cookies are goooooood.
Sherry says
On a scale of 1-10, these cookies are a 25. Bake, put in the freezer and eat one a day. (If you can limit yourself). Whatever is left over can be put out at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I took these to a church function and they were a hit!
Sarah Walker Caron (Sarah's Cucina Bella) says
LOVING all the flavors in these cookies! YUM!
Marye Audet says
Thanks Sarah!
Kirsten/ComfortablyDomestic says
With all of the flashy Christmas cookies around this time of year, sometimes it's nice to see a cookie that's like an old, familiar friend. The white chocolate and sprinkles are sure to bring a little festive cheer to the recipients of your shipments.
Marye Audet says
I totally agree! Thank you!