Cranberry Crunch Cookies

This recipe was my entry in this year's cranberry recipe contest. I don't know how I did yet, but these guys are pretty darn good! I won. This is an award-winning recipe!

I used dried cranberries (craisins), of course, and orange, which is a cranberry's best friend. Toasted almonds and a roll in turbinado sugar add the crunch. (If you've got almond extract on hand, feel free to add a 1/4–1/2 teaspoon to the wet ingredients.)

Jon and I are heading up to Massachusetts next weekend for the cranberry harvest festival. I'm sure Mumma will have me baking something while we're there, so stay tuned for more cranberry recipes and pictures of the harvest and other local specialties.

(Check out this video of an olde tyme dry harvest in my hometown of Carver. Wow! Dick Ward, my high school gym teacher, is the town's agricultural commissioner.)

Makes 3 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Cranberry Crunch Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 1 1/2 teaspoons milk 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest 1 1/2 teaspoons orange juice
Dry Ingredients	1 1/4 cups dried cranberries (craisins) 1 cup finely ground graham crackers 1 cup toasted slivered almonds 1 cup oatmeal 3/4 cup flour 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping	turbinado sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
4. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
5. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
6. Roll each dough ball in turbinado or raw sugar.
7. Place sugared dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Comments

[stripeydots]

Take me with you to the festival! /=P
This looks like another yummy recipe; gotta buy some turbinado sugar first! It'll be my first turbinado sugar buy. Have a fun weekend! Crossing my fingers for your cookie contest entry.

[Lorraine]

These cookies are totally delicious!! They're crunchy on the outside, sightly softer on the inside and the perfect balance of sweet with a hint of tart.

[Mumma]

You Betcha,(wink, wink)I'm going to have you baking up a storm, so come prepared! We may be making a run to the nearest grocery store (you know I don't stock much in the way of baking supplies), because I REALLY want some of these cranberry cookies. Maybe we can make a really big one and put a candle in it to celebrate Jon's birthday! Can't wait to see you guys!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Amelia. Thanks for your good wishes. Turns out I did win! First place in the adult dessert category. Holla!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks, Lorraine!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

No problem, Mumma. I'll send you a list of ingredients we'll need. But save room for some BR's pizza!

[stripeydots]

Hi Greg, I made these today and they're SO delicious! My new favorite cookies! I love the flavors and the crunch.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Amelia. Yay! Thanks for trying the recipe. :-)

[e]

I love the crunch on the outside and the soft chewy cookie interior. Great recipe, thanks!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks, E. I'm so glad you liked this recipe. Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

[Mary Ann-The Cookery]

Cookie Madness shared your recipe in a beautiful batch. Very nice! I'll be adding it to the family repertoire with a slight variation due to food allergies.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Mary Ann. Isn't Anna at Cookie Madness the best? Thanks for stopping by...*and* for adding my recipe to your repertoire. :-)

[claire]

Found this through Anna. I love all of your recipes. Can't wait to try more. This recipe was just wonderful. I love how they kind of fall apart in your mouth. They are SO good warm! My friend's dad loved them. I didn't have almonds, so used pecans and they worked well. Great job!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks, Claire! And thanks for the tip about serving/eating them warm. :-)

[Carol]

Hi, I'm another new reader who found you through Anna's post on Cookie Madness. These are delicious! I love them, and I made them for a holiday gathering last night and they were a big hit. I used toasted pecans, and I will try them with almonds next time. I also plumped the cranberries in boiling water first.

Although I figured you would already have suggested it if it were a good idea, I couldn't resist making a few with some chunks of dark chocolate. While they are really good (how can dark chocolate not be good?), the great flavors of the cookie deserve to stand alone and not have chocolate trying to steal the show. In fact, the orange flavor is so clearly evident that I am inclined to call them Cranberry Orange Crunch Cookies.

I'm so glad to have found your site and have starting digging through the archives. I'll be making either the Hot(ter) Chocolate Cookies or Coffee Cake Cookies next. Yum!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Carol. Thanks so much! Plumping the cranberries is really good tip. :-)

And you're right about the name...why *didn't* I include the word "orange" in the name!?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy my other recipes! :-)

[Karen]

I also made these after finding the recipe via Cookie Madness. They are fantastic! Thanks a lot, I will try out some of your other recipes soon.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Karen. Thanks! :-)

[JaySpice]

I made these 2 times over the last 4 days! They are freaking AWESOME. I brought them into work and got some very good reviews. I will be making them a third time to be used as Christmas gift for some of my co-workers. I have some of your recipes bookmarked to try. Those Boston Creme cookies are calling my name!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, JaySpice. Thanks for the blog-love! :-) I posted your comment on the main page. I hope you like the BCP cookies just as much as these.

[Carol]

Man, these are good. I just made them again, this time with the slivered almonds. I took a plateful into my hair salon, and the stylists were literally fighting over them. Too funny! In other words, they were a big hit. Thanks again for creating a new favorite recipe!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Carol. Yay!!! I'm so glad everyone liked them. But the last thing I'd want to start is a brawl among stylists for cookies! :-)

[Shikin]

Hello =)

I decided that this cookie deserves more than a little thank you prayer (something along the lines of: thank you oatmeal cookie guy for this EXCELLENT cookie).

I've made them twice now and my sisters and I LOVE them. (Just a little background info: my sisters (aged 28, 18, 15 and 13) HATE oatmeal cookies AND I have an extreme aversion for the whole fruit-cookie combination.) So this is an oatmeal cookie miracle.

Thank you very much for this recipe.

Much love and thanks from very far away (Singapore to be exact), Shikin
(pronounced She-kin).

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Thanks SOO much for your note, Shikin. I've quoted your comment as a "Blog-Love" post on the main page. I'm so glad you and your sisters liked these cookies. :-)

[DPLK]

Hi Oatmeal Cookie Guy! I found your blog recently and have to say it is hands down one of my favorite blogs. Your recipes are awesome. I made the Cranberry Crunch Cookies yesterday and they smelled and tasted so delicious. I'm feeding a crowd with them today, I am sure there will be more rave reviews to come =)

I probably didn't do your cookies justice since I decided to "revive" dried out brown sugar with old-fashioned water and the palms of my hands rather than the handy piece of fruit in a bag or microwave tricks (should have internet searched that one, oops). So it was a little wet, but I chilled the dough and increased the cooking time a bit, and they still came out with the sugar crunch on the outside and chewy soft insides.

I recently started a baking blog lately (see URL below), please feel welcome to check it out and comment!

Thanks for being a baking inspiration--I'll definitely be testing more of your recipes in the future!