Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

This recipe for oatmeal cranberry cookies is the perfect fall cookie recipe. The chewy texture is positively packed with fall flavor, like cinnamon, ginger, brown sugar, oats, dried cranberries, and chopped nuts. 

I love cookies. They are my ultimate go-to treat. For me, cake, pie, and any manner of candy fade in comparison to a really good cookie. I learned this the hard way when I started college. The trick was that the dining room was all you could eat and it was staffed by some of the best-hearted women you could ever meet. So we were welcome to eat supper and then make a plate to take back to our room. I generally took advantage of this by wrapping a few cookies in a napkin and enjoying them as a bedtime snack. This became my habit and let’s just say that the “freshman 15” became more like 20 and I had to relegate cookies back to the “occasional” rather than “daily” category.

But this recipe today is so worth it! I am often asked what my favorite recipe is out of the hundreds I have made.  It has always been a hard decision but I have finally decided that this is my favorite cookie recipe. These chewy oatmeal cranberry cookies have it all: oats, sliced almonds, bright cranberries, and a hint of cinnamon and ginger zing! Yep, this is the reason we call them cranberry zingers in my house. This cookie is everything to me! If you love oatmeal raisin cookies, this just might be your new favorite.

Fortunately, this cranberry oatmeal cookie recipe is super quick and easy to make. The cookie dough takes no time at all to mix together using an electric mixer. Then we place them on a baking sheet and let them bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. That’s truly all there is to it. If you’re a fellow cookie lover, I hope you love these cranberry cookies as much as I do! The texture and flavor combination of the nuts, spices and sweet but tart cranberries is so good y’all.

Once you have made this recipe make sure you check out some of my other cookie recipes and you will love them just as much as I do.Here are a couple that you have got to try: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie, Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies, No-Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, and Coconut Lime Cookies. 

Recipe Ingredients

• Dark brown sugar (or light brown sugar if that’s all you’ve got)
• Granulated sugar
• Unsalted butter
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Egg
• Self-rising flour
• Old-fashioned oats
• Sweetened dried cranberries
• Vanilla extract
• Chopped almonds (or your preferred nut)

Helpful Kitchen Tools

• Electric Mixer (Splurge)
• Electric Mixer (Budget Friendly)
• Cookie Sheet

How to Make Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine the sugars, butter, cinnamon, ginger, and egg in a large bowl.

 

Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer at medium speed (about 2 minutes). 

Add the flour…

And mix thoroughly.

Fold in the oats, cranberries, vanilla, and nuts into the flour mixture.

Beat at medium speed until combined into a stiff cookie dough.

Form the dough into golf ball-sized balls using a cookie scoop or tablespoon and place the cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake until lightly golden at the edges (12 to 15 minutes).

Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer the baked cookies to a platter or wire rack to cool completely.

Time to dig in. Enjoy!

Storage

Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before devouring.

Recipe Notes

• You want to use rolled oats like old-fashioned oats for these oatmeal cookies, not steel-cut or quick oats. They’re just the wrong texture for this recipe.
• When you take your butter out to warm to room temperature, do the same with the egg.
• Visit my FAQ page to learn how to make self-rising flour using baking powder, salt, and all-purpose flour.
• To prevent the cookies from sticking to the baking sheet, use greased parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• Instead of cranberries, you can substitute them for raisins or a different dried fruit depending on the time of year (I think dried apricots would be delicious).
• Instead of sliced almonds, you can use chopped pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or even pistachios.
• If you don’t have ground ginger, you can easily substitute it for ground nutmeg.
• Want to add a little bit more zing to these cranberry zingers? Add 1 tablespoon of grated orange zest.

Recipe FAQs

How do you make a white chocolate chip cranberry cookie recipe?

White chocolate and cranberries go so well together, so feel free to add 3/4 cup of white chocolate chips to your cookie dough. You can also use milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chunks, or chop up a white chocolate candy bar.

Can I use frozen or fresh cranberries instead?

Yes, you can substitute the dried cranberries for frozen or fresh cranberries.

Do you need to soak the dried cranberries before baking?

No, you don’t need to soak the dried cranberries before you add them to the cranberry cookie dough.

Are dried cranberries the same as craisins?

Yes, dried cranberries and craisins are the same things. Craisin is actually a registered trademark of Ocean Spray, but they’re dried cranberries, not raisins.

How do I make sure my cranberry cookies are soft and chewy?

The key is to avoid overbaking your oatmeal cranberry cookies. So as soon as the cookies turn light brown on the edges, you should take them out of the oven. If you overbake them they’ll get hard, which we don’t want.

I think you’ll also like these cookie recipes:

Chewy Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

Butter Pecan Shortbread Cookies

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Cranberry Pecan Lace Cookies Recipe

Mema’s Crispy Oatmeal Cookies

How to Make Snickerdoodle Cookies