Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies Recipe – How to Make it in 11 Simple Steps

• 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.