White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

A soft and delicious cookie with all the goodness of cranberries and oats plus the sweetness of white chocolate chips. These won’t win any beauty contests but they are super delicious with a somewhat wholesome vibe. Thus, you can eat them for breakfast. You’re welcome.

If you like chocolate chip cookies but you’re looking for something that’s more festive, you have found your recipe. We are taking the warm and cozy oatmeal cookie recipe we all know and love and adding…more! It’s the perfect combination of old fashioned and a little bit modern.

What You’ll Need

I know you’ll want to fight me on the salted butter here, but it really, really balances out the sweetness of the mix-ins. If all you have is unsalted, bump up the salt to ¾ of a teaspoon. Really!

As written, this recipe makes about 30 cookies. If you’d like to double or triple it recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• ½ cup salted butter (at room temperature)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1½ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (don’t use quick or instant oats)
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips (dark or milk chocolate chips work too)
• ¾ cup dried cranberries (raisins or dried cherries work as substitutes)

How to Make

Before you get started, preheat your oven to 350. Get two baking sheets ready either by lining them with parchment paper or spraying with baking spray.

Making the Dough

This recipe begins by beating the butter and sugars with the egg until they are light and fluffy. If you have one, it’s easier to do this in the bowl of a stand mixer. If not, a hand mixer works perfectly fine and I typically just use that! Yes, I beat the egg in at the same time, but if you prefer to just to butter and sugar first we can still be friends.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then, with the mixer on low, add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture, one cup at a time. You don’t want to over mix the dough, just mix until it’s combined. 

Now for the fun part! Add the oats, cranberry, and white chocolate chips and stir in. If you’re strong, do it by hand. Otherwise, use the mixer set on low or stir.

Shaping and Baking

Now we scoop! I do a smaller cookie that’s one tablespoon in size. For a bigger, bakery-style cookie, two tablespoons is a lovely size. 

For a slightly flatter cookie, I press them down gently so they are discs, rather than balls. But if you like them very thick and rounded, simply leave them how they are.

Also, feel free to press extra cranberries or chocolate chips on top so that they look extra beautiful.

Bake them in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, if doing tablespoon size, or 11-13 if doing the larger size. The bottoms should be light brown and the edges slightly golden. This will give you a nice soft cooking. Adjust the baking time if you prefer them slightly crisper.

Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool. Then pile up on a plate and gobble them up!

Storage Instructions

The easiest way to make cookies ahead of time is to bake as directed, let them completely cool and then freeze them. When you’re ready to eat, just defrost them on the counter for a few minutes. (It’s a great way to have your own secret cookie stash!)

If you want to be able to make the dough ahead of time and fresh-bake the cookies right before serving, that works too. 

The best way to do it is to scoop out the cookies and place them on a baking sheet. They can be touching. Freeze them for an hour or so, then put them all in a freezer bag or vacuum seal them. 

When it’s time to bake, you’ll have individual little balls of dough. Just add a minute or two to the baking time.

Simple Variations You Might Like

• Substitute dark chocolate chips or chunks for all or part of the white chocolate
• Add one teaspoon of orange zest with the cranberries and white chocolate
• Add crushed walnuts or pecans

Questions and Troubleshooting

Printable Recipe