I had some Craisins that needed to be used up, so I decided to make White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies. My recipe called for Macadamia nuts, which I had. I didn’t realize, however, until I opened them that they had become rancid.
Yuck! I had never made this recipe before with anything except for Macadamia nuts, but thought it might be good with roasted pecans. Boy was I right!
The ingredients included salted butter, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, egg (or Egg Beaters), Brandy or Cognac, all purpose flour, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries (I used Craisins) and roasted pecans (baked for 8 minutes at 350°F).
In terms of technique, the recipe is put together like any other cookie, beginning with the creaming of the butter with the sugars. I always add the baking soda at this point, even though conventional wisdom says that it should be sifted with the dry ingredients. I’ve not been able to detect any issues when the baking soda is mixed with wet ingredients, or salt and baking powder for that matter.
Once the butter was well creamed with the sugars, I added the egg and Cognac. Actually, I used Egg Beaters. My experience suggests that the resulting cookie is just as good if made with Egg Beaters as opposed to a whole egg. An added plus of using Egg Beaters is that you can sample the cookie dough without worrying about getting sick! I beat the mixture until it was light and fluffy. Then I folded in the flour and mixed it until it was well incorporated.
Finally, I added the white chocolate chips, Craisins and pecans, and mixed the dough until everything was well incorporated.
Using a 1¾-inch ice cream scoop, I dropped the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, leaving 2-inches between the cookies. Before putting the cookies into the oven, I flattened each ball of dough with my damp hand.
Into a 375°F oven the cookies went for 10 to 11 minutes until they were golden brown around the edges. After I removed the cookies from the oven, I transferred them to a wire rack so that they could cool completely. Yum!
White Chocolate and Cranberry cookies are absolutely delicious and are easy to make
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
- 1 Tablespoon Brandy or Cognac
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries Craisins
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans roasted for 8 minutes at 350°F
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Beat butter, sugars, and baking soda with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and Brandy. Beat until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, white chocolate chips, cranberries and pecans. Mix until well blended.
- Using 1-3/4 inch ice cream scoop (one-ounce), scoop batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving 2-inches between cookies. Flatten each cookie with damp hand. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 2 dozen.
- Note: For the 4th of July, use 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup dried blueberries.
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