The perfect Christmas cookie, these Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are crispy on the outside, with a soft and chewy centre and bursting with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. They are a delicious festive bake as they are full of Christmas flavours and so easy to make as it's all done in one bowl. If you love oat cookies, then you are going to LOVE these!
Oatmeal cookies are our absolute favourite. The texture is perfect, with the slight crunch you have on the outside and then the soft, chewy and sweet inside. There are so many things you can add to an oatmeal cookie, but when Christmas rolls round we are mixing cranberries and chocolate into ours - the perfect mixture of sweet and sour. Make a big batch. One is never enough!
White chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies might just be one of our favourite ways to use cranberries. However, if you are looking for other ways to use them, then why not try our Cranberry Chicken, Cranberry Brie Bites, Cranberry Smoothie or Cranberry Bread.
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Ingredients needed
- Butter - This is what gives the cookies that incredible moist, buttery indulgent flavour. We used unsalted. If you are using salted butter, then leave the salt out of the recipe as you don't want them to be too salty.
- Sugar - We used granulated and light brown sugar. The granulated sugar gives a nice crisp to the outside of the cookies, as it soaks up some of the moisture in the cookies. The brown sugar gives that lovely dark colour and adds a slight caramel flavour too. If you want a more moist and soft cookie, then just use brown sugar.
- Egg - This is what binds the cookies together. We used a medium egg. If you use a large egg, then it could make the mixture too runny.
- Vanilla - We add this for a wonderful depth of flavour. Always try to use extract rather than vanilla essence.
- Salt - Not only does this help to activate the baking soda, but it really brings out the sweet flavour and creates a nice balance.
- Flour - We used plain (all-purpose) flavour and it's the main dry ingredient in these cookies to help bind everything together.
- Oats - This is the star of the cookies. We used rolled oats and they add such an amazing texture to cookies. Don't use quick cook oats.
- Baking soda - This helps the cookies to rise slightly, but you don't want a huge rise on them.
- Cinnamon - Is it a festive cookie without cinnamon? It adds a lovely warm flavour, but you can swap it for ground ginger or nutmeg or use a mixture of the three. You can adjust it to suit your own tastes.
- Cranberries - We have used dried cranberries instead of fresh, as they have an intense flavour. They are sweet, with a slight tartness and they add lots of colour to the cookies.
- Chocolate chips - We used white chocolate chips, however you could use milk or dark. You could also use chunks, rather than chips.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie - Step by step
One: Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and both sugars until smooth.
Two: Add the vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.
Three: Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until combined.
Four: Add the oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips. Mix once again and then use your hands to form a large dough ball.
Five: Divide into twelve equal pieces and roll into balls. Put onto a lined baking tray and using the palm of your hand, gently press to flatten the balls.
Six: Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Why should you try it?
- A delicious festive cookie - Cookies are a must bake during the festive season and these are one of our favourites. Cranberries and white chocolate just scream Christmas.
- You probably have most of the ingredients already - If you bake quite often, then you probably have most of the ingredients to make the basic oatmeal cookies and then you will just need to buy the add-ins.
- All done in one bowl - Everything is mixed in one bowl, which means less washing up. That is a win to us!
- Adaptable - Once you have the basic recipe, it can easily be adapted with different chocolate, dried fruit and nuts. More on that below!
- Make great gifts - We love a homemade gift and cookies always go down well. You could also add all the dried ingredients to a jar, with a label for the measurements of the wet ingredients and the method instructions and give a lovely gift of a make your own cookie jar.
Health benefits of cranberries
Why do we love cranberries so much? The humble cranberry is one of the most nutrient-dense fruits out there. Cranberries are probably most well-known for their association in the management of urinary tract infections (UTIs). Fresh cranberries are very low in sugar, which contributes to their sour taste.
Cranberries are also a good source of vitamin C, E, K1, manganese, fibre and copper.
Variations
Once you have the basic oatmeal cookie recipe perfected, there are lots of different ways that you can adapt it. We went with cranberries and white chocolate but you could use another dried fruit like raisins or dried cherries, or a mixture of them all.
Why not make it an oatmeal cranberry walnut cookie by chopping up some walnuts and mixing them in? It would also work well with chopped pecans or almond flakes too. We like peanuts and cashews too.
When it comes to the chocolate, anything goes. Chunks or chips, white, milk or dark. You can even use a mixture of two different chocolates to mix it up a bit.
What to serve with Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie
Cookies and milk - it has got to be done hasn't it? The sweetness of the cranberries and chocolate chips are balanced out nicely by a nice cold glass of milk. However, if you want to serve them alongside a festive hot drink, then we have lots of choices for you:
- Hot Chocolate Spoons
- Vegan Eggnog
- Peppermint Hot Chocolate
- Chai Tea Latte
- Cinnamon Coffee
- Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate
- Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Christmas Snowman Hot Chocolate
- Cinnamon Mocha
Storage
Storing: We prefer to store these cranberry oatmeal cookies at room temperature. They can be kept in an air tight container and they will stay fresh for 3 days. If you wanted to keep them longer, then they would keep for up to a week in the fridge. However, we don't like the texture of them when they come out of the fridge. If you do put them in the fridge, leave a cookie out for 10 minutes before eating for the best taste.
Freezing: These actually freeze really well, so we like to make a big batch at the start of the festive season and then keep in the freezer and take out a couple at a time. Once they have fully cooled, individually wrap them and then store them all in a freezer bag. They will keep in the freezer for 2 months.
You can also freeze the uncooked dough. Simply roll the cookie dough into balls and then put on a baking tray and freeze (flash freeze) and then put the balls into a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake them, take the balls out and put them on a lined baking tray and in a preheated oven. You just need to add a few minutes onto the cooking time.
Defrosting: The cooked cookies will take a few hours to defrost at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although there are all the health benefits of the cranberries that we have listed above, these are buttery and sweet cookies so portion control is usually a good idea. Using oats in a cookie does add more fibre and making your own cookies rather than buying cookies in a store means you can control exactly what goes in them, so that's always a better option.
We cooked ours for 12 minutes. They might look uncooked and too soft when they come out of the oven, but trust the cooking time, as they will harden up once cooled.
Yes, you can easily double or even half this recipe. Just make sure that you have a baking tray big enough, or cook them in batches.
We haven't tried this ourselves, but you could use fresh cranberries. These have more of a tart flavour though. They also release liquid when cooking, so you would need to adjust the dry ingredients to compensate for this.
Extra tips
- Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature before using them in the mixture. This will make sure you have an even distribution in the dough, rather than chunks of butter.
- Don't use instant oats in this recipe as they will just fall apart in the mixture when cooking and you won't have any of the oat texture. This is because instant oats are already partly cooked. You want to use rolled (old fashioned) oats.
- If you want to add something a little special to these cookies, add a tiny splash or rum or brandy. It adds a real depth of flavour and adds to the Christmas vibes too.
- Make sure you don't over mix the dough when you are stirring all the ingredients in. You want to make sure that everything has just come together. This is so the cookies don't become tough when cooked.
- If you want to avoid the cookies spreading too much, then put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling in to balls.
- If you don't have any baking paper to line your baking tray, then you can lightly grease it with some vegetable oil or butter.
- Make sure to leave enough space between the cookies to allow for spreading during baking - about 5cm/2in is enough.
- Dust the cookies with some icing sugar before serving to give them more of a Christmas look.
- Make sure to cool them completely before serving. You need to cool them for 5 minutes on the baking tray and then cool them completely on a wire rack.
- Add a little something extra to these cookies by drizzling them with melted chocolate.
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DON’T FORGET TO RATE THE RECIPE ↓
Recipe
Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 110 g butter softened
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 75 g soft brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 g plain flour
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 160 g rolled oats
- 80 g dried cranberries
- 100 g white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and both sugars until smooth.110 g butter, 75 g granulated sugar, 75 g soft brown sugar
- Add the vanilla and egg. Mix until combined.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 egg
- Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until combined.120 g plain flour, 0.5 teaspoon baking soda, 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 pinch salt
- Add the oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips. Mix once again and then use your hands to form a large dough ball.160 g rolled oats, 80 g dried cranberries, 100 g white chocolate chips
- Divide into twelve equal pieces and roll into balls. Put onto a lined baking tray and using the palm of your hand, gently press to flatten the balls.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature before using them in the mixture. This will make sure you have an even distribution in the dough, rather than chunks of butter.
- Don't use instant oats in this recipe as they will just fall apart in the mixture when cooking and you won't have any of the oat texture. This is because instant oats are already partly cooked. You want to use rolled (old fashioned) oats.
- If you want to add something a little special to these cookies, add a tiny splash or rum or brandy. It adds a real depth of flavour and adds to the Christmas vibes too.
- Make sure you don't over mix the dough when you are stirring all the ingredients in. You want to make sure that everything has just come together. This is so the cookies don't become tough when cooked.
- If you want to avoid the cookies spreading too much, then put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling in to balls.
- If you don't have any baking paper to line your baking tray, then you can lightly grease it with some vegetable oil or butter.
- Make sure to leave enough space between the cookies to allow for spreading during baking - about 5cm/2in is enough.
- Dust the cookies with some icing sugar before serving to give them more of a Christmas look.
- Make sure to cool them completely before serving. You need to cool them for 5 minutes on the baking tray and then cool them completely on a wire rack.
- Add a little something extra to these cookies by drizzling them with melted chocolate.
Caroline
We love oatmeal cookies as well, and cranberries are also a favorite, so these are sure to be a hit!
Maria San Juan
Oatmeal cookies are always the best! Will surely make this one for my family! Thanks for sharing!
Alisa Infanti
I am a huge oatmeal cookie and raisin fan but decided to give these with cranberries a try. They were fantastic!
SW
Oatmeal cookies are so delicious and I think a little healthier too (wishful thinking). You can't beat them at Christmas.
Helen
I love an oatmeal cookie and this look wonderful! Great combination of sweet chocolate with the tart cranberries - yum.
Jyoti Behrani
Excellent cookies! Just made 2nd batch of cookies this week. Thank you for sharing!
maryanne
These cookies totally hit the spot! I added a bit more cinnamon, but otherwise made them as directed. I love the chewy texture and combination of flavors!
Gina
We all LOVED these! Left out the white chocolate but added a touch of orange zest and they're a spectacular holiday cookie!
Sisley White - Sew White
These look so gorgeous. You really can't beat an oatmeal cookie at Christmas.
AISilva
These cranberry oatmeal cookies look so good and I love that they are so fast too. I will be making these this Christmas season for sure!
Valerie
I love freshly baked cookies. I can't wait to try these, I love oatmeal cookies and the white chocolate and cranberries sounds like a delicious flavor combination.