Dorothy Kern
These Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are soft and chewy with a bit of tartness from the cranberries, crunch from the nuts, and sweet white chocolate. They are freezer-friendly, too, so you can make them ahead!
Table of Contents
The Best Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies Recipe Ever
If you love cookies with a lot of texture and flavor, these oatmeal cranberry pistachio cookies are for you! Why you’ll LOVE these cookies:
- First, they’re soft and chewy like the best oatmeal cookie should be.
- The aren’t plain old cranberry cookies: they also have white chocolate and pistachios.
- This recipe is so easy to adapt with other mix-ins, so be sure to check out the substitution ideas. Take out what you don’t like and add in what you do.
- Because of the colors – red, green, and white – these white chocolate oatmeal cranberry cookies are perfect for the holiday season. Make a batch ahead to share on all the cookie platters, or keep them all to yourself!
Ingredients in Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients: All of my oatmeal cookies have the same basic ingredients. Unsalted butter (softened), lots of packed brown sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and all-purpose flour with oats.
Quick Cooking Oats: I use quick oats in my cookie recipes – did you know you can make your own quick cook oats?
Mix-ins: For this recipe we’re jazzing up our basic cookie recipe!
- Dried cranberries: Also known as Craisins
- White chocolate chips
- Salted pistachios
I love the pistachio, cranberry, and white chocolate combination!
How to Make Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar for one to two minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Mix in the egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Add the flour and mix until combined.
- Mix in the oats.
- Then stir in the the cranberries, white chocolate, and nuts.
- Drop two tablespoons of dough for each cookie onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You don’t need to space them because they need to chill before baking. Place the pan in the refrigerator so the dough can chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Once chilled, transfer the cookie dough balls to a second cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Space the cookies two inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 16 minutes at 350°F, or until they are no longer glossy on top and a light golden around the edges. Cool them on the pan for at least five minutes before removing them.
Tips & Substitutions
- Chilling: If you chill the dough for longer than 30 minutes, cover the pan with plastic wrap, so it doesn’t dry out. If the dough is very cold when you bake the cookies, I recommend lightly pressing them down into a disc. Very cold dough won’t spread as much, and this will help.
- Storage: Once the cranberry oatmeal cookies are thoroughly cooled, store them in an airtight container for up to three days at room temperature.
- Freezing: You can also freeze them for up to three months. For the best results, keep them in a freezer bag or container and separate the layers of cookies with paper towels. When you thaw them, the towels will absorb the excessive moisture.
- Oats: If you have old-fashioned oats on hand, you can turn them into quick oats for this recipe. Pulse them in a food processor to break them down until they look like quick oats.
- Butter: If you use salted butter, reduce the amount of added salt by ¼ teaspoon.
- Substitutions: Swap cranberries for raisins or other chopped dried fruit. You can also switch the white chocolate chips for milk, dark, or semisweet chocolate. You can also change the nuts and use pecans or walnuts. Or leave them out and use more chocolate or cranberries.
Recipe FAQ
Store them in an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for up to three days.
Yes, this oatmeal cranberry cookie recipe freezes great! Keep them in a freezer-safe container, and they will freeze well for up to three months.
If the cookie dough is really cold, the cookies won’t spread as much when they bake. So, if you chill the dough for longer than 30 minutes, you should lightly press them down before baking.
If your cookies are too flat, this means they spread too much while baking. Did you chill the dough? This allows the butter to firm up, so it doesn’t cause the cookies to overspread while in the oven.
Yes, raisins work well in this recipe.
There can be two reasons your cookies are hard. First, adding too much flour can cause this, so accurately measure it either with a kitchen scale or with the spoon and level method. Second, if you overbake the cookies, they will harden. I like to take them out of the oven once they lose their glossy sheen on top and are lightly golden around the edges.
Yes, quick oats work best for these oatmeal and cranberry cookies.
Other Cookies with Great Flavors and Textures
- Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies
- Candy Overload Cookies
- Trail Mix Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Cranberry Bliss Bars
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Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup (150g) packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup (93g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅔ cups (150g) quick cooking oats
- ¾ cups (94g) dried cranberries
- ½ cup (85g) white chocolate chips
- ½ cup (65g) salted pistachios
Instructions
- Cream butter and brown sugar with a hand or a stand mixer in a large bowl. Beat until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix until smooth.
- Mix in flour, then mix in quick oats.
- Add cranberries, white chocolate and pistachios and stir until combined.
- Drop 2 tablespoon cookie dough balls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. No need to space; we are chilling the dough. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a second cookie sheet with parchment or silicone and space the cookies 2-inches apart.
- Bake 12-16 minutes, or until no longer glossy on top and light golden around the edges. Cool at least 5 minutes before removing from pan.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to use any nut in place of the pistachios. You can also omit the nuts and add extra white chocolate and/or cranberries.
- If using salted butter reduced salt to ¼ teaspoon.
- To make your own quick oats from old fashioned, pulse them a few times in the food processor.
- If chilling longer than 1 hour, cover with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are perfect because they have so much flavor and texture. They’re also freezer-friendly, too, so you can make them ahead!
All text and images © DOROTHY KERN for Crazy for Crust. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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Published on: November 14, 2021
I would like to get some recipes for diabetics. Like cookies,pies,cakes, cobblers and other of interest.