Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies.

A real mouthful! I'm a big fan of stuff in my food. I like salad with more toppings than lettuce and cookies with more morsels than cookie. The kicker with this recipe is FRESH cranberries. You know, the kind you can only get about two months a year?  My college roommate Colleen introduced me to these. She's a crazy personal trainer, health nut, little thing and while these aren't exactly as healthy as her original recipe, I sure like them! The cranberries give these cookies a delicious tartness that provides a nice contrast to the sweet chocolate. These are awesome holiday cookies, a modern twist on a classic fave if you will. My recipe redux closely relates to this one by pastry chef Wayne Harley Brachman.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 8 tablespoons of butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg or egg replacer
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of fresh cranberries

Steps:

1. Preheat to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats together.
3. In a larger bowl or mixer, beat the butter and sugars together for 30 seconds or until blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla until the mixture becomes smooth and slightly fluffy.
4. Gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips. After the chips are mixed, fold in the cranberries slowly until incorporated.
5. Drop balls of dough onto a foil or parchment-lined cookie sheet with some space in between. Flatten and round out the cookies a little (ok, I admit I totally forgot to do this with this batch).
6. Set the timer and check the cookies after 9 minutes. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top (mine took about 15 minutes since I forgot to flatten).

I line my cookie sheet with foil, after I take the sheets out of the over and let the cookies cool, I wrap them up in that same piece of foil for the night. The remaining heat and juicy cranberries make these cookies super moist. I find they are best the day after you bake. Makes between 2-3 dozen cookies depending on size. I made huge cookies this batch so I got about 2 dozen which is a-ok with me!

And Colleen, if you're reading this, I only had one. Pssssh, got you!