Cranberry & Dark Chocolate Oat Cookies
Cranberry & Dark Chocolate Oat Cookies are chewy, more adult Christmas cookies that taste like oatmeal met tart cranberries and fancy dark chocolate and decided to throw a party. The oats make them hearty and a little nutty, the fresh cranberries pop with sour juice, and the dark chocolate chunks melt into bitter-sweet goodness that balance everything. They’re not super sugary like regular cookies, so you can eat a couple without a sugar crash. The brown butter makes them smell amazing while baking, and they look pretty with red jewels and dark spots which is great for giving holiday tins as gifts.
Cranberry & Dark Chocolate Oat Cookies
11-Ingredients
🍚 Ingredients
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¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter
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¾ cup brown sugar (light or dark)
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1 large egg
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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1 cup all-purpose flour
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1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
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½ tsp baking soda
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½ tsp salt
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½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional but nice)
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1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
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1 cup chopped dark chocolate (70% or higher) or dark chocolate chunks
📋 Directions
- 1.
Brown: Brown the butter: Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, keep cooking while stirring until it turns golden and smells nutty (about 5–7 minutes). Pour into a bowl and cool 10 minutes. - 2.
Preheat: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment. - 3.
Beat: Beat cooled brown butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. - 4.
Dry: In another bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. - 5.
Stir: Stir dry into wet until just combined. Fold in chopped cranberries and dark chocolate. - 6.
Scoop: Scoop rounded tablespoons onto sheets, 2 inches apart (they spread). - 6.
Bake: Bake 10–13 minutes until edges are golden but centers look slightly underdone. Cool on sheet 5 minutes, then move to rack.
💡 Recipe Notes
- •Brown the butter carefully – stop when it’s golden and nutty; black flecks mean burnt and bitter.
- •Chop cranberries small – big pieces burst and make cookies soggy or fall apart.
- •Chill dough 30 minutes if spreading too much – cold dough = thicker, chewier cookies.
- •Use good dark chocolate – cheap chips don’t melt right and taste waxy against the tart berries.
- •Don’t overbake – pull them when centers still look soft; they firm up while cooling and stay chewy.
How to Make Sure You Don’t Overbake the Cookies
The secret to cookies with the perfect chewy texture is to literally watch the baking process like a hawk and take them out of the oven ahead of time. Brown the edges until they are golden, but leave the center looking a bit soft and fluffy – cookies will continue to bake on the hot tray after they are removed.
If you wait for the oven to show the center of the cookies as done and then take them out, they will end up being hard and crunchy when they cool down. Keep a 10-minute timer first and then from that point onwards, check every minute. Each oven works differently, so your first batch is a test – once you get the timing right, make a note of it. Give them 5 minutes to cool down on the baking sheet so that they get the right consistency without becoming soggy.
How to Brown Butter Without Burning It
Browning butter is pretty straightforward but you should definitely keep an eye on it as it can go from browned to burnt very quickly. A light-colored pan is recommended so you can really see the changing color and the heat should be kept at medium. Make sure you stir or swirl the butter constantly so that it is cooked evenly. When the butter is no longer foaming and you can see brown bits and it smells like nuts, take the butter off the heat immediately and put it in a bowl to cool. If your butter is turning black and smelling like burnt popcorn, then you should start over – burnt butter generally makes the taste of cookies unpleasant. If you are not confident, then go ahead and practice with a small batch first.
Most Common Variations
And here is what they look like:
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Pistachio Cranberry Cookies
Orange Spice Cookies
Coconut Cranberry Cookies
Sea Salt Cranberry Cookies
Dry or Fresh Cranberries – Which One to Use?
Fresh cranberries are best for this recipe because they give those juicy, tart pops that make every bite mean something. Dry cranberries are sweeter and chewier, but they don’t have that fresh zing and can make the cookies taste more like regular oatmeal raisin ones. Fresh ones keep the cookie from being too sweet and add pretty red color that looks holiday perfect. If it’s not cranberry season or you’re in a hurry, dried ones work okay (chop them small), but the cookies won’t have that special bright tang that makes people say “wow, these are different.”
Why So Many People Pick Dark Chocolate for Cranberry Cookies
Dark chocolate is the favorite teammate for cranberries because it’s bitter-sweet, not super sugary like milk chocolate. The tart cranberries need something strong to stand up to them, and dark chocolate does that job perfectly, it balances the sour so nothing is too much. Milk chocolate can make everything taste like candy, but dark keeps it grown up and fancy.
Enjoy your Holiday Cookies!
– Cranby
