Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Drops

Submitted by senseicheryl

"This was a featured recipe today from the www.kingarthurflour.com website. It says these are also called Kids' Choice Chip & Fruit Oatmeal Cookies. "Kids and cookies go together like - well, like kids and just about anything sweet. Given kids' affinity for sugar, you might as well temper it with some of the "good stuff" - in this case, oats with their soluble fiber, and whole wheat flour, with its extra vitamins, minerals, and bran. Trust us: the kids won't know they're getting anything "healthy" in their favorite cookie!" Tips from our bakers: If you bake the cookies for 12 minutes; they'll be crunchy around the edges, with a slight bend at the center. If you bake for the full 14 minutes, till they're almost a light mahogany color, they'll be crisp/crunchy all the way through. For smaller cookies (great for smaller kids!), drop the dough by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, and bake for just slightly less time: 30 seconds to 1 minute less than the larger cookies. Yield: about 7 dozen 2" cookies. What's vinegar doing in a chocolate chip cookie recipe? Ah-HA! Vinegar is our secret weapon. It tempers cookies' sweetness just a tad, and reacts with the leavener to give them a bit more rise, making them lightly crunchy/chewy rather than hard. Want to make the dough now, freeze, and bake later? Scoop the dough in tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet; place them close together to save space. Cover the sheet with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for about 2 hours, till the dough balls are frozen. put the dough balls in a plastic freezer bag, removing the air as best you can. A drinking straw, inserted into the almost-closed bag, can be used to suck out air and effectively shrink-wrap the cookies. Keep frozen for up to a month before baking. When you're ready to bake, place as many dough balls as you like on a prepared baking sheet, and let them sit at room temperature while you preheat your oven to 350°F, for about 15 minutes. Bake partially thawed cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, till as brown as you like."

 

• Ready In: 22mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 4 1/2 dozen cookies
• Serves: 54

ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup butter (right from the fridge, or at room temperature)
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cider or 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 3⁄4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
• 3 3 cups dried fruit or 3 cups nuts, of your choice

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, salt, and vinegar.
3. Beat in the egg, then the baking soda, flour, and oats. Stir in the chips.
4. Drop the dough, by tablespoonfuls, onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool on a rack, or right on the pan. Lighter-colored cookies will be chewier; darker-colored, crunchier.