I really like oatmeal cookies in general. With raisins, with butterscotch chips, chocolate and coconut, the possibilities are endless. When our friend Jason said one day after church that he liked orange cranberry muffins and wondered if you could make those flavors in an oatmeal cookie I said to myself, “Challenge accepted!” So, here they are Chewy Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies or the Jason Cookie.
Chewy Orange Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Thick and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen
1 cup butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cups oats (not the quick cook kind)
1 cup cranberries
the zest of an orange
- To make the cookies start by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until they’re nice and fluffy. Add the apple sauce, vanilla and orange juice and mix well.
- In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and orange zest together.
- Slowly add these dry ingredients to the wet until just combined. I then folded in the oats and cranberries by hand.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.
- When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. I used a little less then 2 Tablespoons of dough for each cookie and baked them for 12 – 15 minutes. The edge should be a little brown, but the top still light.
I love the combination of orange, cranberry and a hint of ginger. I hope you enjoy them too!
A Sharper Focus 