I hope I don’t get fat…

Wow, this is going to be a busy baking week; I’ve decided to bake 3 different treats for various occasions! Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to love every minute of it! I just hope I can restrain myself from tasting at every step - especially the Q&A step before distribution! Otherwise, those new clothes I bought will be going to the back of my closet to taunt me.

I’ll start at the beginning, with the first dessert I baked this week. A friend of mine absolutely loved these cookies I made a couple months ago, and when I told her I started this blog she immediately searched the blog for the recipe. Unfortunately, I hadn’t put it up yet (since I’m only posting recipes as I bake them), so she was disappointed she couldn’t bake the cookies herself. Well, to make it up to her, I baked them this week. So not only will she get the recipe, but some cookies as well!

I have used this recipe many times and in many forms. It’s quite versatile in that you can throw in any extras you have in the pantry. When a friend suggested I bake something with oatmeal, dried cranberries and white chocolate, I immediately thought of this recipe! Originally, the recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, toffee pieces and dried cherries, but I substituted in what I liked.

White Chocolate, Dried Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe for Torie's Cherry Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Yields about 3 ½ dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oats

1 cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruit/nut)

½ cup white chocolate chips (but you can use whatever you prefer)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice during mixing. Add the egg; mix on high speed to combine. Add the vanilla; mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until well combined. Add the oats, cranberries, and chocolate; mix to combine after each addition.

4. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat for all cookies.

5. Bake cookies until golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

As you can see, this recipe is super simple and just throw everything into your stand mixer and let it go! The only other alteration I make is that I don’t use a full ¾ cup for the white and brown sugars. As I have made apparent in a previous posts, I prefer to keep sugar to a minimum, so I try to just cut back a little bit!

Considering this is going to be a week full of baking, I think it started off with a victory! These came out beautifully; a little crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. The white chocolate adds sweetness to the cookie, which is why I think everyone enjoys them so much! As a side not, they're also good with dark chocolate chunks instead of the white chocolate chips, since the bitterness cuts through the sweet.

Next on the baking docket? Something with peanut butter! Can’t wait!