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These easy cranberry oatmeal cookies are perfect for your holiday baking. Sweet and tangy, they are perfectly chewy and soft. Made with walnuts and sweetened with cinnamon, they are the perfect Christmas treat.
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As Christmas gets closer, my mind can’t help but wander to what kind of cookies I’m going to bake up! Whether you are attending a festive cookie exchange, want to make some gifts for family and friends, or just want a sweet treat to hand, these oatmeal cranberry cookies are one delicious treat.
These cranberry oatmeal cookies are simple to make and the dried cranberries add a wonderful tanginess to each bite. Drizzle them with some white chocolate for an extra delicious cookie!
Be sure to try my Amaretti Cookies and Walnut Cookies too!
Why you will love this cranberry oatmeal cookies recipe!
- Easy: This is a pretty straight forward oatmeal cookie recipe. It’s a great one that the kids can help you out with too!
- Great for a crowd: This recipe will make around 25 cookies, so they are a great option for cookie exchanges, and I love to give extras away to neighbours during the holidays.
- Simple ingredients: Made with everyday ingredients, it’s likely that you’ll have a lot of things to hand already to make these oatmeal cookies with cranberries.
Ingredients
- Butter: Use unsalted butter for this recipe. It should be at room temperature so that it combines easily and evenly with the other ingredients.
- Sugar: Brown sugar works wonderfully with these cookies as it has a complex flavor. Coconut sugar can also be used.
- Eggs: The eggs should be at room temperature before using. They bind together the dry ingredients to form a dough.
- Seasonings: 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and half teaspoon salt.
- Oats: Used rolled oats to make these cranberry walnut oatmeal cookies as they stay nice and chewy. In a pinch you can use rolled oats, but your cookies will be softer. Steel cut oats should be avoided as they will be very tough to eat.
- Flour: Make these cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies with all purpose flour or a gluten-free 1:1 flour.
- Baking soda: To make the cookies lighter and less dense.
- Cranberries: Use dried cranberries rather than fresh for this recipe.
- Walnuts: Chopped walnuts add a great crunchy texture and nutty flavor. Pecans or almonds would also work well.
- White chocolate chips: These are optional, but a drizzle of chocolate over the top takes these to a whole new level!
- Optional add-in: Orange zest.
How to make cranberry oatmeal cookies – step by step instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, mix the softened butter with brown sugar until very creamy. This is an essential step for the cookies to remain soft; you’ll need about 5 minutes to achieve the desired texture. Then add one egg at a time and whisk well after each addition. At last, add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- In another medium bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and stir the flour mixture well.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl while stirring.
- Fold in cranberries and chopped walnuts and stir until combined.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate it for one hour. (If you’re going to leave it for more than one hour, it is good to pre-scoop the cookies to have them ready to bake).
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough using a 1.5 tbsp ice cream scoop and lightly flatten the top of each cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and slightly brown on the edges but still soft in the center.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack, or they might break.
- Optional: drizzle your cookies with melted white chocolate.
How long do they keep?
Once your cranberry oatmeal cookies are fully cooled, store them in a sealed bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or, in the fridge for up to 5 days. While in the fridge they will harden a little bit, but they’ll remain moist. You can reheat them in the oven for a crunchy bite.
Can you freeze them?
This recipe for cranberry oatmeal cookies makes a fairly large batch of cookies, so freezing is a great option. Feed them solid on a baking sheet, then transfer them to a freezer bag or container. They will keep well for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature for a couple of hours to enjoy.
Can you make these cookies without cranberries?
If you aren’t a huge fan of cranberries, you can easily omit them for a plainer oatmeal cookie. You could substitute them for other dried fruits like raisins, or fold in some chocolate chips instead.
TIPS FROM NELI’S KITCHEN
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Don’t over mix the cookie dough once you add in the flour. This can cause the gluten to over develop and your cookies can turn out dense when baked.
- Don’t skip the chilling time. This will solidify the butter so that it doesn’t melt to quickly. If you skip this step the cookies will spread a lot when they are baked.
- Let the cranberry oatmeal cookies fully cool on a wire rack. The wire rack allows air to circulate all around the cookies so they cool evenly and don’t get soggy.
More Sweet Treats
If you liked these cranberry oatmeal white chocolate cookies, make sure you check out these other treats as well:
- Keto Chocolate Pecan Cookies
- Paleo White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Candied Pecans
Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar, or coconut sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups rolled oats
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dry cranberries
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- Optional: ⅓ cup white chocolate chips, for drizzle
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the softened butter with brown sugar until very creamy. This is an essential step for the cookies to remain soft; you’ll need about 5 minutes to achieve the desired texture. Then add one egg at a time and whisk well after each addition. At last, add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- In another bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine.
- Fold in cranberries and chopped walnuts and stir until combined.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate it for one hour. (If you’re going to leave it for more than one hour, it is good to pre-scoop the cookies to have them ready to bake).
- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough using a 1.5 tbsp ice cream scoop and lightly flatten the top of each cookie.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and slightly brown on the edges but still soft in the center.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to the cooling rack, or they might break.
- Optional: drizzle your cookies with melted white chocolate.
Notes
- Store these cookies in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. While in the fridge they will harden a bit, but they’ll remain moist, you can reheat them in the oven for a crunchy bite.