Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Each holiday season, my girlfriends and I get together for an annual tradition we call “Cookies and Wine”. It is an all-out baking extravaganza that has been known to last 8+ hours (depending on how much wine is involved). Our list of cookies has morphed over the years – we try to introduce a new cookie each year, and sometimes cookies will drop off the list if they don’t make the cut. And, of course, we have our perennials – those cookies that were on the original Cookies & Wine list (which is now just a faded piece of looseleaf paper in my personal cookbook) that we always look forward to making year after year. These Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies are perennials. They are my father-in-law’s favorite, and I’d never dream of showing up to Christmas without a special box just for him.

Getting the chewiest Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie

The original recipe for these Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies wasn’t very chewy. It was delicious, bursting with cranberry tartness and white chocolate sweetness, baked into the nostalgic texture of the traditional oatmeal cookie. But. There are crunchy oatmeal cookies and there are chewy ones. And I wanted – no, I needed – for this cookie to be chewy. So I (gasp) changed the recipe.

I added blackstrap molasses and altered the butter content, which would not only change the consistency, but the color as well. I was so nervous! Cause really, you shouldn’t ever mess with a perennial. If it came out terrible, it was all on me.

I’m happy to say that the end result was absolute chewy, sweet-tart perfection. And guess what? They were chewy the next day. And the day after that. Yes, they stay chewy! And yes, they passed the father-in-law test (in case you were wondering). I don’t know if this means that I’ll go back to the Cookies and Wine list and start modifying things with reckless abandon. No, I’ll be content to bask in this win for a while. Enjoy!

Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Soft, chewy & bursting with cranberries and white chocolate!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 3 dozen

Ingredients

  

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• 1 1/4 cups rolled oats not instant
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. blackstrap molasses
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup white chocolate morsels

Instructions

 

• Cream the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and molasses in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer until fluffy.
• Combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until combined. Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate morsels. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Drop dough in heaping tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake 14-16 minutes until cookies are golden. Allow to cool at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to cooling racks.

Keyword cookies, dessert, holiday

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