I love making cookies.
And so this week, I’ve been making them like crazy! I hope your ready for an overload in that department.
If we’re being real here – and I hope we always are – it’s been a baking therapy kind of week. It keeps my mind busy. Distracted. Away from my cellphone, gchat, twitter, skype and facebook. Amen to that.
Cookies are a great distraction from the harder things in life. Because life – no matter how charmed, delightful, and wonderful it really is – is real. And real life means real emotions. Real life means accepting answers you may not like, letting go of things you love, working really hard at working even harder, and keeping all your ducks in a row like a real grown up. And we all know being a grown up is hard work, man. Let’s be real on that one.
This is the part where we bake cookies and eat them and feel all better… edible inspiration.
Cookies are always the answer. Cookies are like magic for lifting any mood.
Compared to real life… a messy kitchen can seem like such a speck of an issue. Dirty dishes? No problem. That 5 lb. bag of flour spilling all over my floor, counters, and cat – totally fixable. Sorry cat…
In this cookie we have chocolate –Â 3 times: milk, semi sweet, and white melt together like magic. I love chocolate so much.
And there’s some cranberries too! Cranberries are tart. Cranberries are sweet. Cranberries are pretty little ruby gems. and I adore baking with them. They’re so unique.
Old fashioned oats and a touch of cinnamon combined with the crisp burst of berries and oozing chocolate bake up into one seriously beautiful cookie distraction.
You know what else makes a good distraction?
Good friends to share your cookies with.
It’s all good with cookies and friends. So friends: here’s some cookies.
Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies – adapted from Bon Appétit | December 2004
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
- 2 ounces milk chocolate or white chocolate, chopped (for drizzling)
- BakerbyNature note: I had a lot of trouble melting down white chocolate chips; I would recommend either using white chocolate roughly chopped then melted down, or just sticking with milk chocolate.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.
Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light brown, about 16 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool completely.
Stir chopped milk chocolate in top of double boiler until melted and smooth. Using small spoon, drizzle melted chocolate over cookies in zigzag pattern. Let stand until milk chocolate sets, about 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)
Kristy says
Oh! Look at those beautiful cranberries! I love cranberries and need to get some soon. Their season is far too short. And I’m with you – cookies can solve/fix anything. 🙂
bakerbynature says
Their season really is too short; blink and you miss them!
Cheryl Barker says
These look so pretty and sound so yummy. Chocolate and cranberries together — how intriguing!
bakerbynature says
Chocolate and cranberries are delightful together.
Divya says
These looks divine! I love how they look so moist…yumm!
bakerbynature says
Divine is the exact word I would use to describe these babies.
Jesica @ PencilKitchen says
hmmmm! these look Chewy and crispy!!!
bakerbynature says
Chewy and crispy is the way to go!
Ellie | Gourmand Recipes says
Great cookies for Christmas gift. Book marked! Thanks for sharing.
bakerbynature says
Yay! I’m definitely gifting these too 🙂
Patricia D says
These cookies look so good. I’m getting hungry!
bakerbynature says
I’m mentally sending you cookies right now 🙂
ASHLEA says
These cookies look scrumptious. And I especially love that drizzle on top!
bakerbynature says
The drizzle made them extra decadent aka perfect.
Ingrid @ Silly & Hungry says
Drizzling cookies with chocolate is a genius idea! You took it to a new level! 🙂
bakerbynature says
I try and squeeze in a little extra chocolate wherever I can.
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen says
These look awesome! I love cranberries in baked goods, but I’ve actually only used dried ones before. I’ll have to try baking with fresh ones this fall/winter!
bakerbynature says
Maggie- fresh is so so much better! Don’t get me wrong, I love the dried ones, but fresh has a totally different punch to it.
Courtney says
Love this post! It’s so true – cookies and friends (and maybe bread), make the world a better place. These look delicious.
bakerbynature says
Cookies, friends, and bread makes the world (at least mine and yours) a much sunnier place 🙂