Recipe: Soft White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

 

I happened to look in my cupboard and saw a bag of Craisins that I totally forgot I had! I was immediately inspired to bake something with them. I found this recipe on the Sally's Baking Addiction blog, and since I already had the rest of the ingredients, I thought I'd give it a try.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips, plus a few extra for garnish
• 1 cup dried cranberries, plus a few extra for garnish

Directions

1. In a large bowl using a mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together. On low speed, slowly mix the dry mixture into the wet ingredients mixture until combined. The cookie dough will be soft and thick. Add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and beat on low speed until combined. Cover dough tightly and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour and up to 3-4 days. Chilling is imperative to prevent the cookies from overspreading.
3. Remove cookie dough from the fridge. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3-4 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. This makes the firm cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
5. As the oven preheats, scoop and roll dough, about 1.5 tablespoons of dough each, into balls. The dough may be slightly crumbly, but it will come together as you work it with your hands. Arrange dough balls 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
6. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. The centers will still look soft. If cookies didn’t spread much, lightly band the baking sheets on the counter a couple of times while the cookies are still warm. They will stretch and deflate.
7. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. During this time, press extra white chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the warm tops. This is optional and only for looks. After 5 minutes, transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

As usual, I did some things my way. I almost always melt the butter, since I take it from the freezer and I'm too impatient to leave it sitting on the counter to cool down to room temperature. And I used regular chocolate chips instead of white ones, since most people prefer the traditional chocolate. Also, my brown sugar had turned into a solid rock (I try my best to prevent this, but I guess the last time I baked some air got into the container), so I just crumbled it with my hands the best I could; there was no measuring involved. But the rock looked like it would be less than ¾ cup, so I did add ½ cup of regular sugar just to make sure there was enough sweetness. 

I did actually chill the dough as recommended (well, for the one hour. If I'm baking cookies, I want to eat them THAT day!). Even though I told myself to read both the ingredient list AND the directions before baking so I knew what I was getting myself into, alas, I did not listen to my own advice. So I started preheating the oven too early, only to turn it off once I realized why Sally didn't list "Preheat the oven" as the first step. This is why I bolded that step in the directions; Sally didn't, but I think it's important to know that at least an hour is going to slow your roll. I normally don't like to have to interrupt my baking and wait:

BUT I followed the instructions and waited for the dough to chill. I didn't bother adding the extra chips or craisins on top before putting them into the oven; when I read optional, I hear, "Don't bother." And while I did add the cornstarch since it was listed and I had some at home, the notes of the recipe said that it's not really necessary. So if you don't have any , NBD. I also didn't check how much parchment paper I had on hand before making the dough, and I had just enough to cover one cookie sheet. *Sigh* So I baked one round of cookies, and then for the second round, I used the same parchment paper, but I placed the cookies on the "clean" spots so as not to over-bake any section. I guess I should be thankful that this dough should be refrigerated, because I couldn't bake all of it at once!

I baked them for 11 minutes, but they looked so anemic that I kept them in for another two minutes. Probably not a good idea because it puts them at risk for being overbaked, but even after the extra time they weren't even close to being "lightly" or "golden" brown. That's why I didn't bother to add a filter to the photo at the top: that's what they look like, aaaaaand...they're not very pretty. They taste okay. They are a bit dry on the outside, but still soft on the inside. They certainly aren't a total failure, but I don't think I will be making this recipe again.