Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

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These oatmeal cranberry cookies are perfect for when you need to use up a bag of fresh cranberries! They’re crisp around the edges, incredibly chewy throughout, and filled with white chocolate chips, oats, and of course, cranberries! These oatmeal cranberry cookies are easy and quick to make and a joy to eat!

These cranberry oatmeal cookies are basically a combination of a classic oatmeal cookie with cranberries in them (like the recipe on the back of the Quaker Oats canister) mixed with a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. The BEST of both worlds and perfect for the holiday season!

“Made these for Christmas and used dark chocolate instead of white chocolate as that’s all that I had. They were delicious! Will make them again, for sure.” – Pam

Recipe at a glance

Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Oven
Dietary Info: Vegetarian
Key Flavor: Cranberry & White Chocolate
Skill Level: Beginner

Summary

• Classic Comfort: These oatmeal cranberry cookies are the definition of classic cookie comfort. With rolled oats, cranberries, and a hint of cinnamon. Perfect home-baked goodness.
• Easy Baking: A perfect recipe for both novice and experienced bakers. Step by step instructions make this recipe come together quickly and with basic ingredients. 
• Customizable: Easily customizable to your tastes. Add nuts or switch out the chocolate; it’s a versatile recipe that welcomes your creative touch.

Ingredients to make oatmeal cranberry cookies

• Oats: Use rolled oats for the best results. They stay nice and chewy during baking. In a pinch, you can use quick oats but steel oats should be avoided as they will be too tough.
• Flour: We use all-purpose flour in this recipe. We haven’t tried it, but would expect that using a gluten-free 1:1 flour would also yield good results.
• Baking powder: This helps to make the cookies lighter and less dense.
• Seasonings: Cinnamon, vanilla and salt.
• Sugar: We found that the best results were by using light brown sugar as the molasses adds richness and helps to keep the texture chewy. Coconut sugar could also be used.
• Butter: Melt the butter and let it cool slightly before mixing in. It’s best to use unsalted butter, but if you use salted, decrease the amount of added salt.
• Egg: To bind the ingredients together.
• Cranberries: Cranberries add a nice sweet tartness to each bite. This recipe was made with fresh cranberries, but you can use dried cranberries. Other fruits like raisins or dried cherries would also work.
• Chocolate chips: We love white chocolate chips in these cookies for a fun Christmas cookie, but you can use milk or semi-sweet if you prefer.

Popular substitutions & additions

• Dried fruits: If fresh cranberries are not readily available to you throughout the year, dried cranberries, raisins, or even cherries would all be delicious swaps.
• Less sweet variation: White chocolate adds a creamy sweetness against the tart cranberries; for less sweet options, try semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips for a richer flavor.
• Nuts galore: If you’re a fan of nutty textures, toss in half a cup of chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds. 
• Spice it up: Enhance the warm flavors and spice by adding a pinch of nutmeg or cloves alongside the cinnamon.

How to Make Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

1. Beat together the sugar and butter and mix in the eggs.
2. Mix in the flour and seasonings.
3. Mix in the oats.
4. Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate chips. Scoop the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake.

“So good, perfect fall cookie. Loved that you used melted butter. I hate waiting for the butter to soften.” – Barbara

Tips for making the best cranberry cookies

1. Don’t over mix the ingredients. When the flour is added, it should be stirred in until there are no dry streaks, but don’t over mix it as this can overdevelop the gluten and your cookies will be very dense.
2. There’s no need to chill the cookie dough. These oatmeal cookies only contain a small amount of butter, so there’s no need to chill the dough before baking.
3. Bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. This will make them easy to remove once they are cooked. If you use foil, the bottoms can over-bake.
4. Add an optional white chocolate drizzle. Use baking chocolate that doesn’t contain stabilizers for best results. In a pinch, you can also use chocolate chips, but make sure to add a little coconut oil or butter to help them melt for drizzling.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

Because fresh cranberries are most readily available during Thanksgiving and Christmas, these cookies will ideally be served as part of your holiday treats.

• Christmas Tree Vegetable Platter
• Christmas Wreath Charcuterie Board
• Cheese Board
• Cold Brew Coffee
• Hot Chocolate Bar Party

HOW TO STORE OATMEAL CRANBERRY COOKIES

How long will oatmeal cranberry cookies last in the fridge? Once made, these cranberry cookies will keep well for around 2 to 3 days in an air tight container at room temperature and around 1 week in the fridge.

Can I freeze cranberry oatmeal cookies? Freeze fresh cookies by placing them on a baking sheet and putting them in the freezer. Once the cookies have hardened for 1-2 hours, you can place them in a freezer-safe container or resealable bag. This will make sure the cookies don’t stick to each other and can be easily removed. Baked cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months when stored properly.

Freezing cookie dough: After preparing the cookie dough, place portioned cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Put them in the freezer for a couple of hours until they’ve hardened enough to place in a freezer-safe bag or container without sticking together. Freeze these ready-to-be-made cookies for up to 2 months. Bake as directed, adding a couple of minutes due to them being frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions

You’re going to love these oatmeal cranberry cookies, especially for baking during the holiday season. They are so perfect for holiday gatherings or even just an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee!

For more cookie recipes:

• Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies
• Date Cookies
• Pistachio Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
• Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Peanut Butter Trail Mix Cookies

If you try this healthy-ish feel good Christmas Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!

This Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies recipe was originally published on October 19, 2017. It was originally a 2-cookie recipe adapted from a cookbook, but has now been updated to be more standard to yield 18 cookies. The post now includes an updated recipe card and step-by-step photos.

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Review

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

The best Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies you’ll ever make – they’re crunchy around the edges, incredibly chewy throughout and filled with chocolate chips!

5 from 75 votes

Author Yumna Jawad

Servings 18 servings

Course Dessert

Calories 101

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 17 minutes mins

Total Time 32 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

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• ▢ 1 cup rolled oats
• ▢ ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ cup light brown sugar
• ▢ 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
• ▢ 1 large egg room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup cranberries fresh or dried
• ▢ ¼ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or using a handheld mixer, beat the sugar and butter on medium speed until creamed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg, followed by the vanilla extract and beat until combined, 1 more minute.
• With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, without over mixing. Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
• Divide the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon-sized balls using a spring-loaded scoop and press down slightly to flatten. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookie edges have set but the center still looks soft. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Equipment

Aluminum Sheet Pans

Mixing Bowl Set

Notes

Storage: Store in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature.

Freeze: Freeze solid on a baking sheet before transferring to a container or bag. They will keep well for up to 2 months and can be thawed at room temperature.

Tip: Don’t over mix the cookie batter when you add the flour so that the gluten doesn’t over develop.

Tip: Cool the cookies fully on a cooling rack before storing or serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g, Calories: 101kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 16mg, Sodium: 25mg, Potassium: 67mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 94IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 26mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Diet: Vegetarian

Cuisine American

Course: Dessert