Bake-a-thon 2011: Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

I love cranberries.  I love chocolate.  So what could be better than pairing the two together?  It also helped that I had plenty of oatmeal that needed using, and a bag of Craisins to throw in (all in line with my goal of using ingredients I already have).

I hade very high hopes for this recipe. I mean I got it straight from Ocean Spray (and who knows more about Cranberries?).  Sadly, they did not turn out as I had expected.

The flavour of the cookie itself is very dry and bland (not enough sugar for my taste).  The cookie dough did not flatten out at all, so the cookies themselves are fairly dry hard balls of dough.  The cranberries and white chocolate help with the flavour, but not enough to make up for the lackluster dough.

Personally, I like the concept and am willing to give it another try, but probably using an oatmeal cookie recipe I know and love, and just adding the white chocolate and Craisins.

Well, despite the failure, here is the recipe.

OATMEAL CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES 

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.


Since I was less than impressed with the cookie dough from Ocean Spray's recipe, I would definitely use another one.  The cookies need to be a little softer, and sweeter (plus a splash of vanilla or almond flavouring couldn't hurt).  Here is the alternative oatmeal cookie recipe that I would use, but using any normal oatmeal cookie recipe you like is perfectly fine.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, cream together white sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
2. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda,and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. If you are using nuts or raisins, mix into dough, combining well. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approx. 36-60 cookies, depending on how large or small you make them.


Here are some other tips:

1. You can also consider adding in some chopped walnuts or almonds.  Besides an additional flavour, the nuts will add a little crunch.
2. Craisins come in many flavours.  I personally used the Cherry flavoured Craisins, but you can also get Plain, Orange, Pomegranate, and Blueberry.
3. If you aren't in to white chocolate, milk or semi-sweet chocolate are reasonable alternatives.  This will change the overall flavour of the cookie, but both are quite compatible with the cranberries.