Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Mother's Day Cookies

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day.  Celebrating the holiday at my brother's and Fiana's today, we enjoyed a delicious homemade meal prepared by our gracious hosts.  I wanted to contribute, of course, by bringing dessert and was inspired to make these sizeable cranberry, white chocolate chip cookies.

Dan has been ranting and raving about them for the past month or so, since his co-worker Karen has been bringing them in pretty much weekly.  And each time he had these cookies, he described them in vivid detail. 

After a few passionate depictions, I must admit, I was intrigued.  So much so that Dan asked Karen for the recipe, and fast forward a few weeks, here I was making them.

Overall, the recipe is as straightforward and basic as can be.  To elevate the taste level of these treats, make sure you use really good quality ingredients such as premium flour, high-quality chocolate and big, chunky cranberries.  The only thing I changed from the recipe is that I baked the cookies for an extra 5 minutes to ensure a pretty golden brown color.  Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk and some good company.

Karen's Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients (makes 24 large cookies)
1 cup of softened butter
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
12 oz. white chocolate chips (I used about 3/4 of the package instead of the whole 12 oz.)
6 oz. dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together butter, sugars and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs. 
Sift together salt, baking soda and flour.  Whisk to incorporate.  Stir in white chocolate chips and cranberries.  Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Fist-Size Oatmeal, Cranberry, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Currently in Florida with Dan and his family, we're here for our annual winter trip, spending time together, enjoying the nice weather and of course eating great food.  And although there's absolutely no shortage of good things to eat when restaurants are concerned, it's sometimes nice to stay in, take advantage of a spacious kitchen with fabulous appliances and give it a run for its money.

Dan and I tag teamed it for dinner the other night, where he took care of the main course, I did the sides and the dessert, which I'm going to highlight here.  I got inspired to make oatmeal, cranberry, chocolate chunk cookies that I saw Giada making on a recent episode of  Giada at Home.  The sheer size of these things impressed me, and I loved the combination of quality chocolate (Ghirardelli), oatmeal, cinnamon and chocolate chunks. 

I hope the pictures above tell its true story, because they came out wonderfully.  Everyone agreed and enthusiastically grabbed a still-warm cookie, which was immediately chased by a glass of milk or coffee.  They're really delicious after dinner or for a mid-day snack.  Since they're so large, I advise you to break them in half if you're not in a spoil yourself kind of mood.

Here is the recipe - please enjoy!

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookie Recipe