Thursday, September 2, 2010

Oatmeal, Cranberry & Almond Cookies

OatCranAl-closeup
Last Friday night, I had the baking bug and wanted something quick and not too sweet. So I flipped through a few cookbooks, seeing if anything caught my eye. The words "Oatmeal Cookies" jumped off the page—I do love oatmeal raisin cookies; they're one of my favorites. I decided to try the recipe I knew was lurking on the inside of the Quaker Oats lid. I made some modifications, of course. I can't help it.


I saw the dried cranberries when I grabbed the oats, so I decided to use those instead of raisins and I had some sliced almonds just begging to be added, too. Then I remembered that I bought some caramel extract and knew it needed to be in these cookies. Man, was I right. These smelled so good baking and tasted even better.


caramel flavoring


OatCranAl-OH

Oatmeal, Cranberry and Almond Cookies
adapted from Quaker Oats package top
Yields approx 24 large cookies

Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, very loosely packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp caramel extract (or other flavor of choice)
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Penzeys Baking Spice (or cinnamon)
3 cups rolled oats, old fashioned or quick
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda and spices in small bowl, whisking until thoroughly combined.

Cream butter and both sugars in mixing bowl. Don’t over beat, just mix until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add eggs and flavoring, beating until fully incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl as needed.

Add flour mixture to wet, mixing well.

Add almonds and cranberries and fold in with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed.

I used my large Pampered Chef scoop to dole out the dough, which is approximately 3 tablespoons or a scant 1/4 cup. Flatten the mounds slightly with your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water. These don’t spread much on their own and will cook too fast on the outsides before the insides are cooked through.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and no longer glossy looking. Let sit on pan for a minute before transferring to cooling racks. Let cool slightly and ENJOY! These are best the day of or day after baking. Longer than that and they start to dry out, but will keep for a few days in an air tight container.

Download Printable Recipe Here

4 comments:

  1. I love oatmeal cookies with cranberries. I usually put pumpkin in them too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your photos Kelly! And this cookie looks great!!

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  3. Tracy - Ooh! Love the idea of adding pumpkin. I'll definitely try that next time.

    Alisa - Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The combination of cranberry, almond, and oatmeal makes for a tasty cookie.

    ReplyDelete

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