Nothing brings back pleasant memories like baking a batch of oatmeal cookies like Grandma used to make. Our recipe for Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies takes this classic favorite and gives it a new twist by incorporating dried cranberries and crunchy pecans.
Oatmeal cookies can take you back to childhood where maybe your Grandma or a favorite aunt created oatmeal cookies from scratch and would serve you warm, delicious cookies with a tall, cold glass of milk. The smells of the oatmeal and cinnamon wafting through the kitchen and the fun of being with a favorite person can combine to make oatmeal cookies a favorite, nostalgic treat.
Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
While many people just love the richness of a gooey, chewy, chocolate chip cookie, sometimes, you may be in the mood for something sweet that is just a little more wholesome. This recipe for Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies can satisfy your craving for something sweet, but it also gives you the great texture of nuts, dried cranberries, and oatmeal rather than straight chocolate.
Equipment
- Cookie Baking Sheets
- Large bowl
- Electric Mixer
- Medium-Sized Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 1 cup Softened Butter or 2 sticks
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 2 pcs Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon this is optional
- 3 cups Rolled Oats
- 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter with the white sugar and the brown sugar. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs and beat again until fully combined.
- Add the vanilla and beat one more time. Set this mixture aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda with a fork to mix them fully. You can add in the cinnamon if desired and stir again.
- Pick up the medium-sized bowl and carefully pour the dry ingredients into the bowl containing the buttery mixture.
- Using your electric mixer, combine the two mixtures until the dough is light and creamy.
- Add the oatmeal one cup at a time, stirring after each addition. To incorporate the final cup of oatmeal, you may need to switch from using an electric mixer to using a wooden spoon. Some mixers do not have enough power to mix a dough that is as thick as this cookie dough will be.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir in the pecans and the cranberries until they are fully incorporated into the dough.
- Using a tablespoon, scoop the cookie dough onto the baking sheets into walnut-sized balls about two or three inches apart.
- Place the cookie sheets into the oven and bake the cookies for eight to ten minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before scraping them off with a spatula to cool on a wire rack. Let the cookies sit on the racks until they are completely cool before storing in an airtight container.
Frozen Cookie Dough Balls
- To create frozen cookie dough balls, when you get the cookie dough completely mixed up, spoon the dough balls onto a baking sheet. Don’t worry about spacing them very far apart; you simply do not want the dough balls touching.
- Place the cookie sheet in the freezer and let the dough balls freeze for about two hours.
- Remove the frozen cookie dough balls from the freezer and place them in zip-top freezer bags, pressing out as much air as you can before sealing the bags.
- You can store the cookie dough balls in the freezer for up to three months.
- To bake after freezing, simply remove the dough balls from the freezer, place the balls frozen on a cookie sheet about two or three inches apart.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned.
Notes
This recipe for Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies takes that classic cookie favorite and gives it a new twist. Rather than the traditional raisins in an oatmeal cookie, our recipe incorporates the slightly tangy, always colorful, dried cranberry into the cookie dough. And, while oatmeal cookies always have a distinctive texture due to the oatmeal in the dough, our recipe increases that texture, adding the delightful crunch of pecans to the cookies.
These oatmeal cookies have all kinds of wonderful textures. Overall the cookies are chewy thanks to the plentiful brown sugar in the recipe. To preserve that chewy texture, be sure to remove the cookies from the oven just as they are beginning to get brown around the edges.
This recipe does make quite a few cookies. If you are not up to baking a full batch, that’s okay. You can mix up the dough and create cookie dough balls that you can store in the freezer. Bake as many or as few cookies that you want for today, and store the rest in dough balls in the freezer.
In a week or two when you’re ready to have another batch of cookies, take out as many as you feel like eating and bake them. This is a great trick to have up your sleeve if guests routinely drop by unannounced. You can serve them warm, delicious cookies in less than 20 minutes if you have a batch of cookie dough in the freezer.
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