Oatmeal-Cranberry- Chocolate Chip Cookie

There is nothing like an oatmeal cookie….except one like this! Filled with cranberries and chocolate chips, this one is absolutely delicious! My friend, Melissa, brought it to dinner last week and I asked her for the recipe. Thanks to Melissa for whipping up a batch for me this week. I think I am hooked!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup whole oats
1 1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, optional

Instructions
Heat oven to 350°F. (I bake these at 325°F in my convection oven.)
In a medium bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.

In a separate large bowl, cream together shortening, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine well.
Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
Then add oats, cranberries, and chocolate and combine by hand.

Use 1/4 cup and scoop onto cookie sheet, you should get about 6 per sheet.
Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top no longer appears wet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

These cookies spread quite a bit while baking, so you end up with a crisp cookie on the outside with beautiful soft texture inside

Use shortening in these cookies. It really does something beautiful to these cookies in terms of texture. You can definitely use butter instead, but the texture will change.

You can use 2 teaspoons of Pumpkin Pie spice in place of the allspice and cinnamon. You can also substitute quick oats in this cookie.