Holy Grail #3: Soft Dark Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

You know those gigantic soft chewy cookies that show up at catered events? The ones that you feel guilty eating, the ones the size of your face. Soft, chewy, oversized, yummy. Chocolate chip. White chocolate macadamia. Oatmeal raisin/cranberry.

Since I've started baking, I've been on a quest to be able to make homemade acceptable replicas of my favorite catering cookies to keep me from being so shamefully scavenging of cookies at seminars and the like.

Holy Grail #1 was the chocolate chip cookie, and the journey has largely ended with Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooks Illustrated. I am happy enough with that cookie that I don't eat store-bought or catered chocolate chip cookies in general anymore--they simply aren't as good as the cookies from that recipe and I am disappointed every time I eat outside cookies now.

Holy Grail #2 was the White Chocolate Macadamia Cookie, which I have found a great recipe in a copycat of Subway's version of the cookie.

And now I think I've ended my quest for Holy Grail #3, the chewy oatmeal cranberry cookie, with this recipe.

These cookies stay chewy for days on end, have a nice oat-y chew and strong cinnamon presence. The cranberries are sweet and bright in flavor, much preferable to raisins in my opinion. I tried these cookies without any chocolate, with dark chocolate chips, and with white chocolate chips. One could also add some chopped pecans or walnuts. All versions would be equally delicious.


Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas by Marcel Desaulniers)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or white chocolate chips, or neither)
2 cups quick oats
1 & 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

Sift and combine dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt.

Cream together the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl in the following manner: mix on low for 1 minute, on medium for 2 minutes, then scrape down the bowl and beat again for 2 minutes at medium-high speed. The butter mixture should be very smooth now. Scrape down the bowl again and add the eggs one at a time, mixing for at least 30 seconds and scraping down the bowl after each egg. Add vanilla, and then turn the mixer down to low before adding the dry ingredients.

Add the oats, cranberries, and chocolate/nuts if desired. Mix on low until just combined. If needed, mix by hand with spatula/wooden spoon/hands to get dough mixed evenly.

Use 3 heaping tablespoons (about 3/8 of a cup) per cookie. Press down slightly on each mound so the dough balls are more like fat disks. Bake for 15 minutes, or if you did normal sized cookies, 10-12 minutes should do it.

When done, cool on sheet for about 5-10 minutes or until cookies are set enough to transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in airtight container for up to several days at RT or 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Cookies can be frozen after baking and will defrost into nice chewy cookies.