Home > Desserts > White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies November 30, 2019 | No Comments SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Jump to Recipe This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy. These perfectly festive and wintry White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are soft and chewy with slightly crispy edges. These cookies can be made in just one bowl with one wooden spoon; no mixer needed! Try some of our other favorite cookies next: Oatmeal Cookies, Toffee ChocolateChip Cookies, or Mexican Wedding Cookies. Since I’m a through-and-through foodie, the first thought I have when thinking about Christmas traditions is COOKIES. The boys and I make cookies almost every day in December; it’s one of our favorite things to do. I also usually host some kind of cookie exchange and of course, practically eat my weight in cookies. All in the name of Christmas traditions, of course! These cookies are a new winter favorite and have been added to our Christmas tradition baking list. They’re packed with white chocolate and chopped dried cranberries, and they’re super soft, chewy, and gooey in the center with slightly crisp edges. They’re buttery, sugary, and ever-so-slightly flavored with vanilla and almond. How to make White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies The picture collage above has numbers that correlate with the description below: Combine sugars. This recipe uses both light brown and white granulated sugar. Pour in butter. The most important thing to note here: make sure your butter has 100% cooled to room temperature. Hot butter will melt the sugars and cause greasy cookies. Stir together butter and sugars. And you can do it just using a wooden spoon! No fancy mixers are needed here. Take your time mixing until the three ingredients are fully incorporated. Add in the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Make sure the egg is at room temperature — it will combine better with the ingredients. Mix until smooth and combined. Add in the secret ingredient for super soft, chewy, and sweet cookies: agave nectar. Trust me, it’s a game changer! Mix until smooth. (Not pictured: Add in the baking agents, salt, and cornstarch–another secret ingredient for soft cookies.) Mix and then add in the flour. After that (pictured below), add in the white chocolate chips and chopped cranberries) QUICK TIP Hot butter, cold butter? It sounds crazy, but that makes a big difference. Melting the butter helps it mix in better with the sugar. But that heat can melt the sugar and cause the butter to separate out while baking. So that’s why it needs to be chilled. Top cookie tips Measure carefully. The most important measurement is the flour. If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour, you are likely packing in way too much flour. That will yield cake-y and less flavorful cookies. Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level the top with the back of a table knife. See a visual of this here. Even better? Weigh your ingredients on a food scale! Chill the dough. Since we melted the butter, the dough needs time to chill, allowing the butter to re-solidify. Otherwise, these cookies spread into a pancake! The chilling time also gives the flavors and textures a chance to meld together and intensify. Make big cookie dough balls. Large cookie balls make softer and chewier cookies than smaller ones. Again, a food scale comes in handy here; I weigh the balls to be 1.7 ounces in size. Don’t overbake. Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as the edges turn a light brown and the top center is pale and not shiny. As the cookies cool and firm up, the center will be soft and chewy. Use a silicone liner (or parchment paper) and a light-colored sheet pan. These two things make a huge difference for evenly baked cookies (with no overbaked bottoms). White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies Troubleshooting Why are my cookies hard? Hard cookies usually happen when the cookies were baked too long or at too high a temperature. Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated and watch the cookies closely near the end of bake time. White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies could also be hard if you overmeasured the flour or if other ingredients weren’t fresh. Ensure your baking soda and baking powder are fresh and your brown sugar isn’t too hard or clumpy. Why are my cookies flat? If the cookies did not chill long enough, that might be why they came out flat. Since there is melted butter in the batter, it needs a chance to firm up again. Also, if the butter was too hot when you add it to the sugars, the cookies will likely end up a bit flat and greasy (hot butter melts the sugar). White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies could also be flat if the flour was undermeasured. Correct flour measurement really matters! Another factor that comes into play is if you live in a high-altitude area. QUICK TIP Keeping cookies soft after baking! As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, let them cool completely on a wire rack–this will keep the bottoms from getting soggy from the steam. Once cool, place the cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature. Freezing White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies Instead of freezing baked cookies, try freezing the dough! Roll the cookie dough balls, place them on a large sheet pan, and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake: You can bake frozen cookie dough straight from the freezer; just add 1-3 minutes to the cooking time (or thaw the dough in the fridge and bake according to directions). More amazing cookie recipes Coconut Oatmeal Cookies my favorite cookie recipe on this site! Thumbprint Cookies raspberry-almond flavored Snickerdoodles reader favorite Pistachio Cookies with a hint of honey Peanut Butter Blossoms peanut butter cookies with chocolate in the center FOLLOW ALONG! Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates, recipes and content. White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies 5 from 1 vote - Review this recipe These perfectly festive and wintry White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are soft and chewy with slightly crispy edges. These cookies can be made in just one bowl with one wooden spoon; no mixer needed! SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies 5 from 1 vote - Review this recipe SAVE TO RECIPE BOX Print Recipe These perfectly festive and wintry White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are soft and chewy with slightly crispy edges. These cookies can be made in just one bowl with one wooden spoon; no mixer needed! Course Dessert Cuisine American Keyword white chocolate cranberry cookies Prep Time 20 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Chilling Time 1 hour Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes Servings 16 large cookies Calories 312kcal Author Chelsea Lords Cost $4.21 Ingredients▢ 8 tablespoons unsalted butter▢ 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed (Note 1)▢ 1/3 cup white sugar▢ 1 large egg, at room temperature▢ 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract▢ 1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract, optional▢ 2 tablespoons agave nectar (Note 2)▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking powder▢ 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (reduce if using table salt OR if sensitive to salt)▢ 1 and 3/4 cups white all-purpose flour (Note 3)▢ 1 cup good quality white chocolate chips, separated▢ 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries Recommended: CraisinsUS - Metric USMetric InstructionsBUTTER: Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, refrigerate for 5 minutes to bring it back to room temperature. It's important the butter isn't hot when you add in the sugars or it will melt the sugar and make the cookies greasy.WET INGREDIENTS: Once butter is cooled to room temperature,add the light brown sugar and white sugar and stir until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla extract and optional almond extract. Stir until smooth. Add in the agave nectar and mix well.DRY INGREDIENTS: Mix in the cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in the correctly measured (See Note 3) flour and mix until just combined. Don't over-mix.COOKIE ADDITIONS: Gently stir in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips and the chopped cranberries. Stir until combined.CHILL: Cover the bowl tightly and chill for 1 hour.BAKE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a pan with parchment paper or use a nonstick Silpat liner. If you have a light-colored sheet pan, use that instead of a dark one.ROLL BALLS: Roll balls of dough into tall cylindrical balls (see picture above for shape and size). Place 6-8 cookie balls on a sheet, allowing plenty of room to spread. Dough balls should be about 1.7 ounces if you have a food scale; this dough should make 15-17 cookies. If the dough gets warm by being at room temperature or through the rolling process, return the balls to the fridge for 10-20 minutes or until firm.BAKE: Bake for 8-12 minutes, erring on the side of under-baking--this keeps the cookies soft and chewy. The cookies will continue baking a bit after they've been removed from the oven, so take them out as soon as the edges start to lightly brown.FINISHING: Remove from the oven and press the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies (ensures even placement of chocolate and makes them look pretty). Allow cookies to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.STORAGE: We like these cookies best on day 1 and 2 of being made. They do last up to 1 week, but begin to lose texture and flavor quality. To store: place in an airtight container and keep at room temperature. Wait until cookies are completely cool before adding to the container. Recipe NotesNote 1: Sugar: If using dark brown sugar, these cookies spread a bit more, become flatter, and are a little less pretty. This is because the darker the brown sugar, the more molasses (moisture) it contains. Note 2: Agave: Agave nectar is the secret ingredient that makes these cookies amazing. It has become a widely popular ingredient and can be found in most grocery stores. You can generally find it with other sweeteners (like brown and white sugar) or in the natural foods section. You can use pure maple syrup in its place if necessary. Note 3: Measuring flour: Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level the top with the back of a table knife or weigh the flour on a food scale for an accurate measurement. Nutrition FactsServing: 16cookies | Calories: 312kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 178mg | Potassium: 90mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 206IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed. DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I love hearing from you when you've made one of my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @ChelseasMessyApron or leave me a comment below.
