White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

This week's recipe isn't a dinner item. I'm altering the rules to my "goal" I just have to try a new recipe/create a new recipe each week. Some weeks, I simply don't have the time or energy to do a giant dinner and that's ok.

About a month ago, I bought a cookie mix from Target for White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal cookies (try saying that five times fast). I was really disappointed when I made them and I didn't even get a dozen cookies out of the recipe... plus, after eating one, turned out to be sub-par. I knew I could do better - so I did.

Taking a few ideas from a a couple of my favorite cookie recipes, I came up with a recipe to use (needing tweaks down the road is expected). I'm not a fan of wide, flat cookies that look like just melted on the sheet so in my cookie recipes, so I like to use a mix of cake flour and regular (unbleached) flour. The cake flour doesn't spread as much as regular flour does because of the starch content (I think). Also, I prefer baking powder to baking soda because powder has a bit of acidity to it which, again, promotes puffier cookies. Ok, enough with the science lesson...

Ingredients:

3/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cake flour
3/4 c. quick cooking oats
3/4 c. dried cranberries
6 oz. white chocolate chips (half a bag)

Directions:

• Cream the butter and sugars. Add in the egg and vanilla. Add cinnamon, baking powder, salt and flours.
• Fold in the oatmeal, cranberries and chocolate chips. 
• Roll into 1-1/2 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. I always line my sheets with parchment - it discourages burning on the bottoms and makes clean up a breeze.
• Bake the cookies at 375 for about 8-10 minutes.

Let them cool and DEVOUR THEM! Remember, there is oatmeal AND cranberries in them so they're healthy... right?