Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

My daughter had her wisdom teeth removed Friday.  She is recovering nicely, thank you, though the soft diet is getting her down a bit.  I stayed home from work Friday to administer medication, fluff pillows, and run out for milkshakes (to be eaten with a spoon, of course), but since my daughter slept most of the day, I had time on my hands.  What did I do with all that time?  I baked Christmas cookies! 

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post that my mom didn’t like the holidays, but she did like to bake cookies, or maybe she just liked to eat the cookies.  Either way, I do have good memories of baking Christmas cookies with my mom.  She had some tried and true recipes, but she always let me look though her cookbooks for new cookies to try.  We had some winners and some losers, but I always had fun. 

I have a collection of Christmas cookies I like to bake now, but as in years past, I always look through books and magazines for new cookies to try.  I save the Christmas cookie magazines I buy, so I have a few years worth of magazines to inspire me.  Each year, I’m drawn to different cookies. 

As I’m moving my family toward a healthier diet, I decided to see what King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking cookbook has to offer.  There are some intriguing whole grain recipes in the book, but I’m a sucker for oatmeal cookies, so I chose their chewy oatmeal cookies to try.  I added my own take on the cookies, and they are going to be delicious in my Christmas cookie line-up.  Are they healthy?  Probably not with a stick and a half of butter, but I do like the whole grains in the cookies.  Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal cookies are a sweet, tart and spicy combination that I’m glad I tried this year.

Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Whole Grain Baking from King Arthur Flour

Printable Recipe

¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks)

1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 1/3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 ¼ cups whole-wheat pastry flour

2 cups dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar, corn syrup, baking soda, baking powder, salt cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vinegar and vanilla, and beat with the paddle beater until creamy.  Beat in the egg.  Add the oats, flour, cranberries and nuts and stir to combine.  Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets.  Bake cookies until they begin to brown around the edges, but are still soft in the center, about 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets about halfway through.  Remove the cookies from the oven and let rest on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.  Makes 4 to 5 dozen cookies.