White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies

I had a request from someone to show how to make White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies, as that person wished to make some to take into work at Christmas time.  I hadn’t made the cookies before so I thought it would be something I could try.

These are a lovely soft cookie, with a slight crunch on the edges.  Filled with the white chocolate and cranberries they are great, but I also added a little ground cinnamon, to give that extra holiday time flavour.

The recipe is very easy indeed and will easily make 24 cookies, dependent on size.  For mine I made them quite large and ended up with 19 very good sized ones.  I think a heaped desert spoon full of the cookie dough would be enough for 24.

Baking only takes 12 to 15 minutes and the mixing only takes a few minutes, so really you can have these cooling and ready to eat in just about half an hour.

Mine really did taste great, the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate with the fruity tartness from the cranberries, and then with the added cinnamon flavour made it difficult not to eat more than one.

Ingredients:

• 170g(3/4 cup) softened unsalted butter
• 150g(3/4 cup) soft brown sugar
• 100g(1/2 cup) caster sugar(granulated is ok too)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 medium egg(large in USA)
• 230g(1 3/4 Cups) plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon(optional)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 135g(1 cup) white chocolate chips
• 100g(1 cup) dried cranberries(chopped if they are large)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
2. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl place the butter and sugar and beat(I used my hand mixer) until combined and nice and fluffy.
4. Add the egg and mix until fully combined.
5. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
6. Place the baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt in a bowl with the flour and mix together.
7. Add that mixture to the butter, in three additions, mixing until all is fully combined.
8. Add the white chocolate chips and the cranberries and, again, mix until evenly distributed into the dough.
9. Take heaped dessert spoons full of the dough and place on the baking sheet, leaving a gap of about 2 inches between each one.
10. Form into a rough circle and press a little flat.
11. Bake in the oven of 12 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are a nice golden brown colour.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking trays, for at least 5 minutes, to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.