These are soft and chewy oatmeal cookies full of white chips and cranberries. It's an easy one-bowl recipe that comes together quickly so you can have freshly baked cookies in 30 minutes. The dough can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen to bake later.
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After trying different recipes for years, I found the perfect chewy oatmeal cookie. For me, it's a no-fail, super easy recipe. That sounds like a lot, but it delivers.
Adding white chips and cranberries takes them to another level of sweetness and tanginess simultaneously.
It's a simple cookie with different layers of flavor.
It's one of our favorite holiday cookies, especially when we slightly underbake them and eat them warm. You get a sort of gooey cookie, so delicious.
- Very easy to make: you simply mix the ingredients in one bowl. I recommend an electric mixer to make the process easier and faster, but you can make them by hand with a whisk, a large bowl, and some arm muscle.
- Flavor: the mix of sugars and butter makes delicious cookies. They have a caramel undertone and just enough sweetness to let the flavors of the oats, chocolate and cranberries come through.
- Chewy texture: if stored properly, the texture remains wonderful for a few days. The key is baking them just until they are still slightly soft in the center.
- Make ahead: you can keep the cookie dough refrigerated for up to a day before baking it. Or freeze the unbaked cookie balls for up to a month and bake them directly, no need to thaw them!
Video step-by-step
Ingredients Notes
- Oats: rolled oats (traditional or old-fashioned oats) are the best for this recipe because they add texture. But you can use instant oats.
- Milk: I use whole milk, but you can use low-fat or almond milk.
- Baking soda: make sure it's not expired.
- White chocolate chips: use your favorite white chip or chunks.
- Dried cranberries.
- Orange zest: it goes wonderfully with the chips and cranberries.
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
Type of oats to use
There are 2 types of oats good for making oatmeal cookies:
- Rolled oats: also called traditional or old-fashioned oats, are medium-sized and shaped like irregular discs (image below). It's the one in the box we grew up with that is used to make porridge, the best granola recipe, or oatmeal muffins. This is the most commonly used oat and a sure way to get good results.
- Instant oats: also known as quick oats, are more processed than the ones above. I find that they lack enough texture, but you can use them.
- Mixers: using an electric or stand mixer with the paddle attachment will make this process much easier. The cookie dough must be mixed for several minutes at the beginning, which is harder to do by hand.
- Creaming: the butter must be soft (not greasy or starting to melt) and mixed with the sugar until very creamy. Add the sugars gradually to incorporate better, especially if using a handheld electric mixer.
- Adding the egg: don't overlook this step, and take the time to beat it for several minutes. It will help the cookies' texture and shape. The dough should be soft and creamy (image below). After this step, you add the rest of the wet ingredients (milk and vanilla).
- Flavorings: in this recipe, it's vanilla and orange. They're added before the dry ingredients as they amalgamate better with the butter and egg.
- Adding the flour mixture: also called dry ingredients, includes flour, salt, and baking soda. Add them at low speed. We don't want to develop the gluten in the flour, so it needs to be mixed until well incorporated, but no more than that.
- Add-ins: white chocolate chips and dried cranberries are added last and mixed in. Make sure they're distributed and well integrated so that all cookies have both flavors.
- Preheated oven: make sure it's at the right temperature when you put in the cookies.
- Cookie sheets: I recommend turning the baking pan around (back to front) halfway through baking so the cookies bake better. Ovens transfer heat differently, and this is the easiest way to bake them evenly, especially if you use a large baking sheet.
- Preparing the pan: after years of baking homemade cookies, I butter the pan lightly. It works well for me. But you can use parchment paper, a silicone mat, or some other type of lining.
- Should you slightly flatten the tops before baking? If making them right away, it's not necessary. If you refrigerate the dough for several hours or days, and you like soft chewy cookies, I recommend it because it will be firmer and drier (the oats will have absorbed more liquid), so they might not expand well and take too long to bake fully.
- How long should you bake them: it depends on the texture you want. I like chewy cookies with crisp edges, so I underbake them a tiny bit and take them out when the center is still very soft. For crunchier cookies all around, bake them for a few minutes more, depending on the size. You can do a test run and bake a few cookies first and find your sweet spot regarding baking time and texture.
The way to make a large batch and have freshly baked cookies any time you want is to freeze them individually.
It takes 3 simple steps:
- Measure and freeze: pretend you're about to bake them, measure them (with a cookie scoop), and place them on a cookie sheet, no need to leave much space between them. Pop the cookie sheet into the freezer.
- Transfer to a bag: once the raw cookie balls are frozen rock solid, transfer them to a plastic bag or freezer container. That way, you won't have the cookie sheet stuck in the freezer until you decide to bake.
- Bake straight from the freezer: when you want fresh oatmeal walnut cookies, take the number of frozen cookie balls you want to bake, place them on a cookie sheet, and bake them as directed in the recipe below. They might take an extra minute or two due to their freezing temperature when you put them in the oven.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the right temperatures, equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. Use a thermometer inside the oven (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that the temperature is right. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Measuring the cookies: Use an ice cream or cookie scoop so that you're cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 1 or 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking.
- Refrigerating the dough: I don't chill it, I bake the cookies directly, and the texture is fantastic. But the type of oats you use might differ from mine as they can vary depending on what part of the world you live in and what brand you buy. You should not have issues using quick-cooking oats because it hydrates quickly. With rolled oats, I recommend you test-bake a few cookies first and see how they come out. Letting the dough rest from 1 hour to a day will help to make moister and softer cookies. The oats will soften with the extra hydration time.
- Batching and freezing: Make a large batch (double this recipe) and freeze them. It will save you time and always have freshly baked oatmeal cookies.
- Flavorings: boost the flavor of these cookies by adding ground nutmeg, orange zest, or a tablespoon of Frangelico or some other nut liqueur.
- Storing: cookie jars or tins are ideal for keeping any cookie. But plastic bags can work well too.
- Spices: you can add a pinch or ground cinnamon or other spice that you like paired with cranberries and white chocolate.
- Variation: for less sweet chip oatmeal cookies, use semisweet chocolate chips instead of white.
- Run out of granola? Crumble a few of these over your bowl of yogurt and fruit.
- Want to play around with your crumble recipes? Omit the milk in the recipe and use this cookie dough as a topping for apple crumb bars, raspberry apple bars or cherry crumble.
- Make sandwich cookies: if you make small-sized cookies, you can fill them with dulce de leche and have awesome alfajores cookies.
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White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
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Soft and chewy oatmeal cookies full of white chips and cranberries. It's an easy one-bowl recipe that comes together quickly, so you can have freshly baked cookies in 30 minutes. The dough can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen to bake later.
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract , or ¾ teaspoon vanilla paste
- ½ teaspoon orange zest, optional
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips, or chunks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.
- Beat ¾ cup unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth, about 20 seconds.
- Gradually add 1 cup light brown sugar and ½ cup white sugar and beat for 2 minutes, until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 1 egg and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add 2 tablespoons whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ teaspoon orange zest if using. Mix until incorporated.
- Add the sifted 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt to the butter mixture. You can sift them in a separate bowl or have the ingredients measured and sift them directly over the butter mixture (my choice).
- Mix at low speed until well blended, and no dry spots remain. But don't overbeat at this point.
- Mix in 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour in two parts, so they're easier to incorporate.
- Add ¾ cup white chocolate chips and ¾ cup dried cranberries and mix with a spatula. Make sure no flour remains at the bottom of the bowl.
- At this point, the cookie dough can be refrigerated for up to a day. See note below.
- Scoop out portions onto the prepared sheets, leaving space between them, an inch or two, depending on the size of the cookie. If making larger cookies I flatten them slightly with my fingers tips so there's less chance of the center taking too long to bake and the sides being too brown.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size, until golden brown and still soft in the center. I use a 1.5-inch cookie scoop and bake them for exactly 10 minutes.
- Smack the pan on the counter immediately after you take it out of the oven. It will deflate the cookies a little and help with the texture.
- Let them cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes before lifting them carefully from the paper and cooling them completely.
- Once they cooled down completely, transfer the cookies to jars or an airtight container.
Notes
Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. Use a thermometer inside the oven to check that the temperature is right. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
Oats: they give crunch to the top layer. I use old-fashioned rolled oats (traditional oats) because they have more texture, but you can use instant or quick-cooking oats.
Refrigerating the dough: I don't chill it, bake the cookies directly, and the texture is fantastic. But the type of oats you use might differ from mine as they can vary depending on what part of the world you live in and what brand you buy. You should not have issues using quick-cooking oats because it hydrates quickly. I recommend you test-bake a few cookies and see how they come out. If you want them to be softer and moister, letting the dough rest from 1 hour to a day will help. The oats will soften with the extra hydration time.
Measuring the cookies: Use a cookie scoop so that you're cookies bake evenly. Leave roughly a 1 or 2-inch separation between each (depending on the size), so they can spread comfortably during baking. I use the small cookie scoop that it’s 1.57 inches / 4cm in diameter for regular-sized cookies.
Test run: I always recommend baking two or three cookies at first and checking the baking time to make sure you don't over or underbake them. Baking: underbake them a tiny bit when the center is still very soft, and they will be chewier. If you want crunchier cookies, bake them for a few minutes more, depending on the size. You can do a test run, bake a few cookies first, and find your sweet spot regarding baking time and texture. Batching and freezing: make a large batch (double this recipe for example) and freeze them. It will save you time and always have freshly baked oatmeal cookies. Keeping: cookie jars or cookie tins are ideal for keeping them. But plastic bags or airtight plastic containers work well too.
Test run: I always recommend baking two or three cookies at first and checking the baking time to make sure you don't over or underbake them. Baking: underbake them a tiny bit when the center is still very soft, and they will be chewier. If you want crunchier cookies, bake them for a few minutes more, depending on the size. You can do a test run, bake a few cookies first, and find your sweet spot regarding baking time and texture. Batching and freezing: make a large batch (double this recipe for example) and freeze them. It will save you time and always have freshly baked oatmeal cookies. Keeping: cookie jars or cookie tins are ideal for keeping them. But plastic bags or airtight plastic containers work well too.
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