Recipe: Thick & Chewy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

I was invited to a holiday party where I wouldn't know anyone, so of course I want to make a good impression. The party is tomorrow, so I woke up early this morning to bake cookies for the hosts. I wasn't sure if I'd have enough time tomorrow between all my errands and such.

I found this recipe on the Baker by Nature website. I thought the cookies looked pretty festive, and who doesn't like soft cookies?! Here's how you make them:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 15 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F).
2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the dry ingredients; set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine the butter, sugars, and vanilla; whisk until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes (you may use a stand mixer/ handheld mixer to help if you have one).
5. Add the eggs and beat quickly – for only about 30 seconds – until they’re just combined. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes, then beat the eggs for another 30 seconds. Gently fold in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon, stirring only until the flour begins to disappear.
6. Fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberries.
7. Roll 3 tablespoon sized balls of dough between your palms to form a ball (they should be big; almost a 1/4 cup), then place on prepared sheet (make sure to leave enough room in between each cookie for inevitable spreading). Continue this process until all the dough has been rolled. Place baking sheets in preheated oven and bake for 11-14 minutes, or until golden at the edges but still soft in the middle. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you've read my previous recipe blog posts before, then you can probably guess which step I skipped. Yep: I was not going to chop up craisins. But the rest of the recipe I followed pretty closely; I even set out the eggs and butter early so that they would be (close to) room temperature. The dough is a little hard to mix because it gets pretty thick, so I'm not sure I had a good distribution of cranberries and white chocolate chips. And as usual, I over-baked them just a little because I always fear that cookies will be raw in the middle. So the outside is a bit crunchy, but the inside is still soft. I'm happy with how they turned out. I hope the party guests like them, too!