The first time I made Oatmeal Cranberry Crunch Cookies was for an informal get together with some friends. There were lots of desserts and snacks. However, by the end of the evening these cookies had garnered multiple accolades and recipe requests. I was kind of surprised that an oatmeal cookie would be such a hit, but these are different. They are big, thick cookies with extra depth of flavor and texture from a healthy portion of graham cracker crumbs. In addition to that are toasted pecans and cranberries.
As far as I know, the recipe was created by “Oatmeal Cookie Guy” who at one point had a blog focusing on interesting oatmeal cookies. This was one of his best cookies and I’ve treasured the recipe through the years – especially when I had extra graham crackers to use up. Until now I’ve always made the cookies big and thick, but being that I am still all about “minis”, I used some of the dough to make small quarter-sized oatmeal cranberry crunch minis.
These would be really cute tied up in holiday bags. Sadly, I did not have any holiday bags so I just took a quick shot of them on an index card so you have an idea how small they are.
Recipe
Oatmeal Cranberry Crunch Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (115 grams)
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 ½ teaspoons milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons orange zest and orange juice
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt if using salted, reduce to ¼
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup finely ground graham crackers
- 1 ¼ cups dried cranberries
- 1 cup chopped toasted pecans
- Sparkly Sugar or Turbinado for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º. Have ready two large rimmed parchment lined baking sheets.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add the egg and beat until blended, then beat in the vanilla, milk, orange zest and juice
- In a second bowl, thoroughly mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to the creamed mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats and graham crackers, then stir in the cranberries and nuts.
- Shape dough into 24 balls--about 2 tablespoons each. Roll each dough ball in turbinado or raw sugar.
- Place sugared dough balls about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake at 350º for 12-15 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.
Kristin
I’ve been making these cookies for years now and they turn out great every time!
Sue
I made these cookies from The Oatmeal Guys blog and they were really good! Thanks for the reminder. I'll bet yours are really cute in their diminutive size.
Stephanie
Oh, I remember Oatmeal Cookie Guy! I had this saved back in ye ol' days before pinterest. I cannot wait to try them. There were a few others...a cheesecake filled one, if I recall. Have you tried any of the others?
AmyM
These looks delicious Anna! They would be the perfect addition to my Christmas cookie plates!
Sonya
These sound REALLY good!!!