Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies – These oatmeal cookies are thick and chewy, and soft in the middle! Packed full of dried cranberries and plenty of orange zest, these cookies are a fall and holiday favorite!
You guys, Friday things that I’m excited about – Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies! Seriously, it’s finally cool enough outside to do some baking!
I mean, I’m pretty much willing to bake year round. But, I feel like most rational people aren’t super cool with heating up their oven in the middle of summer.
Anyway, I really wanted the first cooler weather baking recipe that I put up to really scream Fall, in all the right ways.
These cookies with cranberry, a heap of orange zest, cinnamon, brown sugar. Yeah, they get the job done.
Let’s talk about how these cookies came to be born!
My beautiful, talented, friend by the name of Jen special requested them! What kind of friend would I be to deny her the best darn cranberry orange oatmeal cookies EVER?
Actually, she requested this recipe a while ago, so they’ve been in the works for months! I fiddled around with these oatmeal cookies until they were absolutely perfect.
We all know there are certain criteria that make up the perfect oatmeal cookie, regardless of what kind of dried fruit, flavoring or candy you decide to throw in there!
Here are the things that I look for in a really good oatmeal cookie.
- They need to be THICK. I want a hearty oatmeal cookie. Not a flat crunchy one, no thank you.
- I need them just ever so slightly crisp around the edges, but super soft in the center.
- Lastly, they need to be chewy enough that they don’t just fall apart or snap right in half!
These cookies meet all three of those expectations. Thick, soft, perfectly chewy. They’re also an amazing balance of sweet and slightly tart with the addition of orange zest!
Our Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies are really easy to make. Just make sure you plan ahead because the dough does need to be chilled for at least 45 minutes before baking.
Trust me, these are worth the 45 minute wait time.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Butter, Softened
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Cups Quick Cooking Oats
- 1 Tablespoon Grated Orange Peel
- 1 1/2 Cups Dried Cranberries
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or bowl of stand mixer cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.
- In a second large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and oats.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches while mixing on low speed. Beat just until combined. Fold in the orange zest and dried cranberries.
- Chill dough for at least 45 minutes, and up to 3 days.
- After chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare two large baking sheets with non-stick spray or parchment paper. Drop dough by Tablespoon fulls onto prepared pans, two inches apart. Slightly flatten each ball of dough with the palm of your hand.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are slightly golden brown around the edges.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can we use old fashioned oats? Will they be as chewy?
quick oats are just finer old oats. Just throw the old fashion oats in the blender for a few pulses. I’ve done this twice and they still come out great.
These cookies are my favorite. I melted some white chocolate , added orange zest and dipped about half the cookie. Yum
Can fresh or frozen cranberries be used?
You’ll want to use dried as called for in the recipe
I’ve made these cookies a few times this autumn and they come out great. They are my go to cranberry oatmeal cookie. Don’t skimp on the orange zest, that’s what makes them so flavorful. Great combination with the cranberries.
Sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries?
I use unsweet, either is fine
These cookies are dangerously delicious! I baked them for 10 minutes and they turned out exactly as advertised – thick with a crunchy edge and a soft center. I will be baking these again for Christmas!
These are wonderful, full of flavor and texture. I chose this recipe (among the billions on the internet) to use 2 cups of chopped fresh cranberries, since I didn’t have any dried. I also tossed in about 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Hubby the Cookie Monster loved them. Next time I’ll add an orange drizzle on top just for a little flair. Otherwise they are delicious alone. Thank you for sharing!
These cookies are too DIE FOR! A definite favorite in my house…
Hi, Nichole. I’ve been making cookies for many years and was a baker (where I made mostly cookies) at a restaurant for a couple of years. So, I know a great cookie recipe when I see one!! And, your cranberry orange oatmeal cookies sound spot on and look absolutely delish!
Have a sweet day,
Heather
Thank you so much for your kind words, Heather! 🙂
I also like big, fluffy, perfectly chewy cookies. These are also ideal for me, the taste also take into account and these seem to be perfect also in this question.
They’re the best kind of cookies! Hope you love them 🙂
Cannot wait to try this recipe. All my favs. I just lost 202 #s. Oh well i will do portion control. Lol, NOT!!!!
BEST recipe EVER!!! I definitely will be making these again! The only thing I added to make it extra orangey was to add the juice from one orange…my family LOVED it!!!