A while back my friend Susan posted these gorgeous Lemon Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies on her blog. Now, you know how I feel about sweet lemon, right? So, I was beyond excited to try these until I realized that not only didn’t I have any dried blueberries on hand, but my lemons were looking the worse for wear and weren’t going to make a very good addition to baked goods.
After a very quick search I discovered that I did have dried cranberries, oranges, and fresh squeezed orange juice on hand! The substitutions seemed clear. But then, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and made some changes of my own. Like adding maple syrup, spices, and upping the amount of juice (although that last one may have been a fortuitous accident, I’m not sayin’).
The cookies wound up being very flat and a fantastic combination of crispy, crunchy, chewy, and soft all at the same time. They were just the right balance of sweet with sour from the cranberries. Adam said they were the best cookies I’ve ever made. Which, I must say I can’t really take credit for since Susan supplied me with the basic recipe. But it still felt good to hear.
Dried Cranberry and Orange Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup, grade B
- 1 tsp vanilla pure extract
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tsp finely grated orange zest (I used the zest from 2 Clementines)
- 1 cup AP flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add in the maple syrup and vanilla and mix until integrated.
- Then mix in the orange juice and orange zest and mix well.
- Add the flour, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix slowly until the mixture is well combined.
- Add the oatmeal mix until incorporated.
- Add in the cranberries and mix until incorporated.
- Using two small spoons, spoon out all of the batter onto one half-sheet pan lined with tin foil and chill the cookies in the fridge for a minimum of 5 minutes.
- When ready to bake preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Then place the cookies (no more than 9 per pan because they will spread a lot while baking) on to a half-sheet pan lined with a silpat sheet and bake for 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool before devouring.
Cooking time (duration):30
Diet type: Vegetarian
Meal type: dessert
I ate some of these cookies…the cranberry and orange combo was terrific!