White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are thick and chewy and packed with white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and old fashioned rolled oats. This festive cookie is perfect for the holidays!
Cookies are such a fun and easy treat to make, and they are especially fun to make around the holidays. Are you a big cookie lover, too? Check out my Crumbl cookie recipes, gingerbread whoopie pies, soft gingersnap cookies, cut out sugar cookies, and gingerbread man cookie recipe for plenty of delicious variety to your holiday cookie making!
Why This Recipe Works
- The look and taste of Christmas. My favorite things about these cookies is that they look and taste like Christmas! The hint of cinnamon and dried cranberries really bring a warming holiday flavor to this oatmeal cookie.
- If you’re a fan of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll love these! This cookie practically melts in your mouth. They are so thick, soft and chewy! It’s the perfect combination of texture and flavors.
Ingredient Notes
- Oats: When making chewy oatmeal cookies the key to getting that perfectly chewy texture is to use old fashioned rolled oats. They’ll hold their shape and texture better than instant oats.
- Cinnamon: Using a bit of cinnamon helps bring a nice, warm holiday flavor to the cookies.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: Using the combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar helps the texture and structure of the cookie. I love brown sugar in cookies because it adds moisture and a hint of molasses flavor.
- Dried Cranberries: This recipe uses dried cranberries. Using fresh cranberries would affect the moisture in the dough and therefore the bake time, which this recipe doesn’t account for.
Step-By-Step Instructions
- In a small bowl combine the dry ingredients until evenly combined. Set aside.
- Add room temperature butter to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until the butter is nice and smooth. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the butter. Cream these ingredients together for about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the creamed butter and sugar.
- add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once everything is combined it’s time to add the rolled oats, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. Chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
- After the dough has chilled in the fridge, portion into cookie balls (if you didn’t chill them as cookie dough balls) and bake according to the recipe instructions. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to fully cool on a wire rack.
Recipe Tips
Using room temperature ingredients when making cookies helps everything mix better and also affects how the cookies bake. Room temperature eggs, for example, incorporate better into the cookie dough, which improves how the cookies bake. Did you forget to pull out the eggs? No worries! Place cold eggs in a bowl full of slightly warm water for 5 minutes. This is the fastest way to bring cold eggs to room temperature. It works like a charm.
You can chill the cookie dough batter as is, OR you can scoop the dough and then chill. Either way works. Baking these cranberry cookies without chilling the dough beforehand will result in flat cookies. Take the time to chill the dough!
For these large holiday oatmeal cookies I used a 3 tablespoon scoop.
FAQs
The oats in the cookies definitely are! Otherwise, they are a delicious treat.
You’ve over baked them if the cookies are dry! Be sure to follow the baking directions. The cookies are done when the edges are set and the tops are no longer shiny.
This recipe uses dried cranberries. If you used fresh cranberries, the moisture in the cookie would be higher since the fruit would juice during baking. This recipe doesn’t account for that in the ingredient ratios or in the baking temperature and baking time.
It’s more than just a difference in color! White chocolate doesn’t have cocoa solids in it — which is found in milk and dark chocolates — but has cocoa butter (which is the fat extracted from the cocoa bean).
Related Recipes
- Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Chutney
- Cranberry Cilantro Dip
- Cranberry Apple Cider
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
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White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter - softened to room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar - packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups Old Fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat on medium speed until well creamed, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula as needed so that everything is evenly incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until the flour is just combined.
- Add the oats, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. Mix until combined. *
- Cover and chill the dough for 1 hour. **
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto the parchment paper. 6 cookies per tray. Remember, these are big cookies.
- Bake cookies for 9-13 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. Take note, the centers will still look fairly soft. (In my oven, my cookies are done at 10 minutes).
- Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 8-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 5 days, if they last that long ?
Notes
This recipe was originally published on Dec. 14, 2018. It was republished on Nov. 24, 2021, to include additional information and photos.
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40 Comments on “White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies”
I only refrigerated the dough for 30 minutes before making the first batch and the cookies came out perfect. The next batch spent more time in the fridge before baking, as per the instructions, and they didn’t spread enough and came out weird and lumpy! What’s up with that!?
Hi Ashlyn, so how long did the dough end up chilling for that second batch? You want to make sure the dough then comes to a slight room temperature enough to be able to scoop the dough and roll it into balls. Did you bake it directly from the fridge to the oven?
I don’t care for raisins and prefer dried cranberries so this recipe is perfect for me. These cookies are delicious with the perfect ratio of dried cranberries to white chocolate chips and just the right amount of cinnamon. I took a batch of these cookies to work and they were all gone before the lunch hour.
That oatmeal/cranberry/ white chocolate recipe lookswonderful, but I simply cannot find the recipe with the AMOUNTS.
Scroll to the bottom of the blog post, there is a recipe card that shows all of the amounts you’ll need. OR if you’re at the top of the blog post there is a turquoise colored button that says, “jump to recipe”. You can click that and it will take you directly to the recipe.
Really awesome recipe… and easy.
Great flavor….the best cookies!
Hi made these with the walnuts. Delicious!
Is there any way I can cut down on the sugar?
Glad you loved the cookies. Yes, you can just add less sugar next time. Cookies won’t be as sweet, but if you’re determined to cut down the sugar that’s the best way to do it.
These are a perfect cookie option with great flavor and texture. I made these over thanksgiving and gave a few to my family who loved them, but took 90% of them to my four roommates. They were gone in two days. All I heard was praise. Do yourself a favor and make these cookies!
With your white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies can I add walnuts to this?
Yes you can
I made these before and then again the other day. They are perfect for cranberries. I just love cranberries, fresh or dried. These cookies hit the spot. I didn’t make them as big and they turned out perfect. They were definitely a big hit. They ere in the freezer so ready for an afternoon snack. My husband and I like alot of cookies right from the freezer. These work. Chocolate chip cookies are another favorite. Do ypu have a brownie cookie recipe?
This is the cookie everyone wants me to bake – including my husband. Before I baked my first batch of these, my husband always requested chocolate chip cookies. ALWAYS. Now, he says these are his favorite cookies. The combination of oats, white chocolate and cranberries are truly decadent.
I love that I can make a batch or two, scoop them cookie portions and freeze half of them to bake as needed. I have also frozen baked cookies, but who doesn’t love a cookie fresh from the oven. I pop them in a hot oven as we’re eating dinner and ‘voila’, instant dessert.
I have made a cranberry white chocolate cookie before but really enjoyed these with the oatmeal added. They give it a different flavor and I must say I really love the addition. Oatmeal raising cookies move over.
Can’t stop eating them. Thanks for another great recipe.
So glad you are loving the combination of oats, cranberry and white chocolate in these cookies! Thanks for the great review!
DELICIOUS!!!!! This going on my list as my favorite oatmeal cookies. So good!!
It’s definitely a delicious twist on the classic oatmeal cookies! Thanks for the positive review, Jenn!
The flavor and texture of these cookies is so satisfying. They’re absolutely delicious!! We made them today and my kids won’t stop asking for more (I’m having a hard time not devouring too many as well). Great recipe!
Hi! Can these be converted into bars? If yes, how many 8″ square pans can this batch cover? 🙂
Sure, you can make them into bars, that would be a great idea! If I were you I would maybe divide the batter into 2 – 8″ inch pans and start there. I haven’t made them into bars before so let me know how it turns out (and how many it makes!) 🙂
Let me know if you have any other questions.
My dough was very stiff. I had a hard time scooping them out. They baked up hard though everyone still liked them. I rechecked the recipe and everything was right. Where did I go wrong?
Not sure what went wrong, but something was off. The dough should not be stiff at all.
Excellent. I substituted a Gluten Free Flour mixture and added chopped pecans and these cookies were fantastic.
Hi. Can the dough be stored in fridge for some longer time?
Yes, that would be fine.
I want to add ground flax seed for breastmilk supply support. Will it work to reduce some of the oats in place of ground flax seed?
Yes, reduce some of the oats if you plan on adding flax seed. (Note: I haven’t tried this before so I’m not sure how much to add or reduce by).
These sound delish…I want to make the dough ahead of time. Is it ok the freeze individually snd then bake later. If yes…how long should they go in for? Thanks
Yes you can freeze the cookie dough. I’m not sure how long you’d bake the cookies for though. Maybe only bake a few of the cookies for the first go around just to test how long they should bake for.
My first comment on your blog, but I thought I should let you know how much I love these cookies! Over the last few months I had some intense oat cravings and these totally hit the spot. They are my favorite oatmeal cookies (to be fair, it’s the first and so far only recipe I made…), however, I did make some minor changes. Since I don’t live in the US cranberries aren’t easily available. So far I’ve made the cookies with dried rhubarb (they were great!), with mulberries (turned out not to be my favorite) and another batch with dried apricot (haven’t tasted them yet but expect them to be excellent as well). Oh, and I also skip the cinnamon.
Thanks so much for this great recipe!
Jeannette thanks for taking the time to comment! Your adaptations to this recipe sound delicious. So glad you’re enjoying the cookies.
Two questions before I tackle this recipe today:
1. If I increase the recipe by half, will it fit in my stand mixer? Or make a big mess?
2. If I use a two-tablespoon scoop (to make a slightly smaller cookie), how long will they take to bake?
1- it’ll still fit in your stand mixer, but you might have to stir the oats, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries in by hand. It’ll be close!! You can always try and then move it to a larger bowl if you need to.
2- if you use a 2 T scoop I would check them around the 8 minute mark.
I love cranberries! These cookies look so delicious and perfect for Christmas!