Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside! These Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies are perfection!

Happy Friday friends! I can’t believe the weekend is already here. It doesn’t happen often, but this week went by really fast for me, although that could be because the last two days have been spent relaxing up in Aspen, Colorado. This Friday instead of celebrating with pizza I’m changing things up and sharing a delicious recipe for Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies! Pizza, cookies, it’s all good on a Friday!

If I had to choose a favorite kind of cookie it would definitely be one that had oats in it. There is something about that chewy texture that oats add to a cookie that I just love. Unlike many of my other cookies that have been made lighter or healthier in some way, these oatmeal cookies are more traditional, meaning there is butter and sugar in them.

I’ve tried numerous times to come up with a cookie that uses less butter and guess what, I’ve basically failed every time, unless of course you like cakey, dense cookies that don’t flatten or spread out at all in the oven. Newsflash, I am not a fan! What I am a fan of is cookies that crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, which is exactly what these Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies are.

I decided to bake these delicious cookies after I was approached by OXO to participate in the Cookies for Kids’ Cancer campaign. OXO is a proud supporter of this campaign and is donating $100 for every blog post shared this month. I can’t think of a more fun way to help support raising funds for research to develop new, improved treatments for pediatric cancer than by baking cookies! As part of this campaign OXO sent me several of their cookie baking supplies to help make my cookie baking process easy and successful.

Remember the days when you were a kid and scooping cookie dough involved a spoon or tablespoon and pushing it out with your finger? Well, gone are those days thanks to OXO’s cookie scoops! They make scooping cookies so much easier and all your cookies will be the same size. Next, you need a good non-stick half sheet pan to bake your cookies on. I’ve been needing a new sheet pan as mine have been warping in the oven when I bake, so thank goodness I received a good quality one from OXO.

Finally, after these chewy oatmeal cookies loaded with dark chocolate chunks and sweet cranberries come out of the oven, you’re going to need a good cookie spatula to get them off the pan and one that doesn’t leave half the cookie behind…been there. I’m happy to report that no crumbs were left behind…except the ones falling from my mouth. So now that you have this recipe and all the tools needed to successfully make cookies, you have no excuse not to bake a batch of these perfect Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate Cranberry Cookies this weekend!

Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Yield: 20-22 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour if possible
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, or coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand held mixer, add the melted butter and sugar and beat together on medium high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.
4. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula then add in the vanilla extract and egg and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet with the mixer on low speed.
7. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix just until the dough is combined.
8. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the dried cranberries, chocolate, and pecans with a rubber spatula.
9. Use a medium sized cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and drop it onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving about 2 inches between each cookie.
10. Bake the cookies on the middle rack of the oven for 9-11 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown around the edges.
11. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for several minutes before removing them and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

This recipe was adapted from Cooking Light

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 22 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 193Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 126mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 4g

– OXO will be donating $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each blog post dedicated to this campaign in October (up to our $100,000 commitment*.)

– *In 2015, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer through product proceeds, bake sale matches and other fundraising efforts