Oatmeal/Cranberry/Walnut Cookies
A hit with my Food Court customers, these Oatmeal/Cranberry/Oatmeal cookies can make a satisfying sweet breakfast or an afternoon snack to satisfy that before-dinner hunger. The wholesome ingredients invite you to indulge in guilt free cookie love (well, almost!)
You can change it up by replacing the cranberries and walnuts with two cups of chocolate chips.
Oatmeal cookies with body, but not too crunchy. Walnuts and cranberries liven up the warm oatmeal flavor that is complemented with a bit of cinnamon.
- 1 cup Butter (8oz. or 2 sticks, softened)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (tightly packed; 7 oz.)
- 1 cup White Sugar (8 oz.)
- 2 Large Eggs (room temperature)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Water
- 2 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour (generous, 12 oz.)
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 3 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal (Lightly processed, 10 oz.)
- 1.5 cup Dried Cranberries (6 oz.)
- 1.5 cup Walnuts (chopped)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. If you haven’t already, pulse the oatmeal in your food processor for a few seconds, just enough to get about half of the oats chopped up.
This will make a difference in the texture of the baked cookie. Unprocessed whole oats will result in a cookie that spreads a bit more and renders a more highly textured mouthfeel.Combine the oats, walnuts and cranberries in a large bowl, using your fingers to separate any cranberry clusters for even distribution in the final cookie dough.
In the mixing bowl, use the paddle attachment at medium speed to cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one until well incorporated. Add the vanilla and water.
Stir (or sift, if you like) together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add to the creamed mixture and mix until the flour is incorporated and you have a soft dough.
Spoon the dough over the oatmeal/walnut/cranberry mixture and fold together, making sure to gently combine all ingredients uniformly.
Whenever you have moistened flour in a dough for baked goods, keep in mind that the more vigorously you stir the tougher your end product will be. Stir and/or fold gently.Spoon heaping tablespoons (about 1½ oz.) onto the lined cookie sheet, about 2” apart. Press each cookie into a thick disk and refrigerate for ½ hour. Cookies can be frozen at this point as well.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are light golden brown. The middles may not look done but they’re fine. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes before moving to a baking rack to cool completely.