Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I've been on a mini anti-baking phase for the most part of January because I'm trying to stick to my healthy goals. Plus, from my baking extravaganza for twelve days of Christmas cookies and treats I was totally cookied out and not motivated to bake any cookies for a long time. My wonderful husband had a small request for his favorite cookie and I kinda ignored it during my baking extravaganza and this weekend he asked again for a batch of oatmeal cookies. Since we were having dinner at a friend's house, I figured it would be a the perfect time to make a batch of oatmeal cookies for our friends and us.

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect oatmeal cookie, it has to be chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside. Eric loved this irresistible batch of raisin pecan oatmeal cookies from Ina Garten and I wanted to test out a new recipe to see if these were comparable. These cookies were easy to prepare and I was mad at myself for not having raisins like the original recipe, but I easily substituted cranberries and it worked out great. I love the tartness from cranberries versus the sweet raisins...it brings a lifting vibrancy to the sweet cookie. I like to think these cookies are healthier because it has oats and cranberries if you compare them to chocolate chip cookies. Either way, a perfect treat for after dinner, after breakfast, after lunch or just because it's delicious. ;-)

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
1 1/2 cups cranberries
1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Preparation:

In the bowl of the stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together - about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir in the rolled oats and cranberries. Meanwhile, toast the walnuts on a cookie sheet in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Chop them finely by hand or in a small food processor.
In the stand mixer, slowly add the eggs one at time until combined. On low speed, gradually add the flour/oat mixture to the creamed butter until fully combined.

Chill the batter for a couple of hours or preferably overnight (optional step, but recommended by author.)
When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookies sheets with silpat or parchment paper.

Using a small cookie scooper (about 1 heaping tablespoon) spoon the cookies and place them on the baking sheet. Slightly flatten the tops with two fingertips, about 12 cookies per sheet.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, and make sure midway baking time to rotate the cookie sheets. Do not overbake the cookies, they will slightly brown across the top.

Remove from cookie sheets and place on cooling racks. Enjoy, and try to only eat one or two.
Yield: 48 small cookies or 24 to 28 large cookies (about 1/3 cup)
Nutritional Info: Calories: 112.3 g; Carbs: 17.3g; Sugars: 9.5g; Fiber 1.1g

Review: I thought these were great tasty cookies, but my husband thinks that Ina's cookies rank number one on the list. He still ate a dozen of them and I indulged in a few because "everything in moderation" is key to our health. These were not as chewy as I liked them to be but I may have overbaked a couple batches of cookies. I'm still getting used to cooking with a convection oven versus a regular oven, so I have to vary the cooking temperatures and cooking times to adjust accordingly.