Dried Cranberries in a traditional oatmeal cookie are delicious Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies. Soft and chewy oatmeal cookies make a delicious snack or dessert.
These tasty cookies are perfect for the holidays or for every day!
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are very similar to a traditional oatmeal raisin cookie but with dried cranberries instead of raisins. The cranberries add a delicious sweetness to the cookies.
These cookies are easy to make and this recipe makes a bunch, 36 cookies! So you easily have enough to feed a crowd or keep it for yourself and nibble away on cookie after cookie!
Anytime I'm asked to bring cookies to a party or family gathering, I bring a variety of cookies. These oatmeal cranberry cookies are always included because they are always a hit!
Whip up a batch of these cookies in no time at all. This recipe doesn't require any chilling of the dough, so the cookies go straight from the bowl right into the oven.
I used dried, sweetened cranberries in these cookies. You could also add raisins if you wanted and maybe some chocolate chips!
Key ingredients
- Oats - Use old fashioned oatmeal or rolled oats. The thicker oats work best in this cookie because it adds great texture. Do not use instant or one minute oats.
- Brown sugar - the brown sugar helps keep the cookie soft and chewy
- Butter - I use salted butter. Make certain your butter is at room temperature so it can easily be mixed in with the sugar.
- Cranberries - dried sweetened cranberries
Step by step directions
- Cream butter and sugar together
- Add eggs and vanilla
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix to combine
- Mix in oats
- Stir in cranberries
- Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to form balls of cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet
- Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 8-10 minutes
- Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 1-2 minutes and then remove to a baking rack until fully cooled
Recipe tips
- Make certain your butter is at room temperature
- Whip butter for 3-4 minutes along with brown sugar
- Use real vanilla, not imitation
- Use Old Fashioned Oats - not quick cook oats. Old Fashioned Oats are thicker and hold together better in these cookies.
- Add sweetened dried cranberries
Recipe Faqs
Allow cookies to fully cool on baking rack. Place in an airtight container or storage bag. Store at room temperature.
Yes, these cookies freeze well. Once the cookies are fully cool, place in a freezer safe container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
These cookies are perfect for making ahead of time and freezing.
My grandmother used to make batches of cookies and freeze them. She always had cookies to serve if anyone dropped over for a visit.
My sister also freezes cookies, but not to serve to company. She likes to eat them frozen! She pulls out one at a time and eats them in their hard frozen state.
To freeze
- Allow cookies to cool completely on a baking rack
- Place cookies in an airtight container or a freezer bag
- Arrange cookies in a single layer
- Place a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper on top of cookies and add another layer of cookies
- Freeze container in a flat position
- Cookies will last up to three months in a deep freezer
To thaw
- Remove cookies from freezer
- Let sit for at least 2 hours at room temperature
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below and snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @beyondthechickencoop
If you loved this recipe you’ll LOVE all the others in this category. Check out all my cookies here!
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until soft and light. Add brown sugar and continue mixing.1 cup butter, salted, 1 cup brown sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 eggs
- Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.1 ¾ cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add oats. Mix just until combined.3 cups oats
- Fold in dried cranberries.1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
- Form small scoops of cookies. Place on an ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on baking sheet and then remove to a baking rack to continue cooling.
Notes
- Make certain your butter is at room temperature
- Use real vanilla, not imitation
- Use old fashioned oats or rolled oats - not quick cook oats. Old Fashioned Oats are thicker and hold together better in these cookies.
- Add sweetened dried cranberries or raisins
Nutritional Disclaimer:
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
SC says
Something seemed off with the flavor from the batch I made. I'm thinking the addition of walnuts and using the 50% less sugar craisins made these more bland.
Kathy says
Hi! I'm sorry these didn't work for you. The recipe was written with regularly sweetened cranberries and no walnuts. Sometimes it's okay to change things up, but sometimes it doesn't work quite right. You might want to try following the recipe as written and maybe you'll enjoy the cookies a bit more! 🙂
Autumn says
I halved the recipe, used orange extract instead of vanilla, and added chopped walnuts. Rolled out bigger cookies and ended up baking them for 15+ minutes. Great recipe!
Kathy says
Thanks for your suggestions! 🙂 I'm glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Annie H says
Baked 30 of them and they turned out perfect! I love this recipe. It's super easy and doesn't require too much time.
Kathy says
Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed them!
H0wl says
Can these be frozen for later?
Kathy says
Yes! These cookies freeze well. Wait till they are fully cool and place in a freezer safe container or bag. Enjoy!
Amanda says
Instead of orange zest, do you think orange extract flavor would be ok?
Kathy says
Hi Amanda,
This recipe doesn't use orange zest. Was it another recipe you were thinking of?
Kathy
Amanda says
No, sorry. I was going to add a little off the recommendations I saw in the comments. I love cranberry and orange bread, so was just curious.
Kathy says
I think using the orange extract in place of the vanilla would work. 🙂
Brentlee says
These were delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe ❤️
Kathy says
Thank you so much!
Marcie McGuire says
Made this recipe for a meeting…delicious! I added a cup of lightly salted and toasted chopped pecans to the batter. Kicked the cookies up a notch. They were a hit!
Kathy says
Sounds like a great idea! Toasted pecans have so much flavor!
Thanks 🙂
Chris G. says
I made these cookies a million times and love them. However for health reasons I need to cut back on my saturated fat intake. I would substitute egg whites for whole eggs, but any suggestions on butter substitutes?
Thank you
Kathy says
Hi Chris,
I have only made these cookies as written. You should be able to substitute margarine for the butter if that's a better choice for you.
Kathy
Chris says
Thank you for replying so quickly. After some searching I think I might try Canola Oil.
Have you ever tried substituting Canola Oil in any of your cookie recipes?
Thank you.
Kathy says
I have not, but now I'm curious! Let me know if you try it and how they turn out!
Thanks 🙂
Peter S says
I used only 1 stick of butter and subbed avocado oil for the other stick (about 4 oz). Amazing!
Kathy says
Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
Diana Rock says
My dough was very dry and grumble. Not sure why. Taste is good but cookies are dry. Any idea what I did wrong?
Kathy says
Hi Diana,
How did you measure your flour? It's very easy to add too much flour simply by compacting your flour while measuring. Be certain to fluff and scoop your flour.
Diann says
Delicious oatmeal cookies with raisins!
Kathy says
Thank you!