Christmas Cookies: Oatmeal Cookies w/ White Chocolate & Cranberries

Meet your new favorite Christmas cookies! These soft-batch oatmeal cookies are jazzed up with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and cinnamon. I think you're going to be WOWed by how easy they are to make (you might even say fool-proof), and how utterly delicious they are.

I'm not even going to pretend to be humble about this cookie recipe. As I sit here writing about my favorite Christmas cookies, I'm filled with pride and excitement. But mostly with cookie dough.

For the base of this Christmas cookie dough, I use the same never-fail recipe I use for all my oatmeal cookies.

They bake perfectly every time - crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It's also a really easy recipe to customize! You can go ahead and add things like chopped nuts or coconut, and it's hard to go wrong.

Perfect Christmas Cookies Ingredients

• Butter: I use unsalted butter in my cookie recipes. Otherwise, the amount of salt in the butter varies too much by brand. But if you only have salted butter around, don't worry! Just reduce the salt in the recipe from ¼ teaspoon to ⅛ teaspoon.
• Sugar: Brown sugar is perfect for making cookies both moist and chewy. That's why I use a combination of brown and granulated sugar for my cookies.
• Egg & Vanilla: You just need one large room-temperature egg for these cookies, as well as some pure vanilla extract.
• Dry Ingredients: For the dry ingredients, all you need is flour, large-flake oats (these are the exact ones I use), baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Here's one of my favorite posts on measuring ingredients, including how to level flour.
• Cranberries & White Chocolate Chips: I use Craisins and white chocolate chips for these Christmas cookies, and they make them look so festive! I recommend soaking the Craisins in warm water for about 10 minutes (then draining them) so they don't pull too much moisture from the cookies. 

Tips for Making this Recipe

• I should start by saying this is one recipe you really don't need to stress over being "perfect." The cookies don't need to be perfect circles. If you only have half the amount of chocolate chips, or accidentally add a touch more salt than it calls for, they'll still be great!

• This is a very rich and sweet cookie recipe. If you're not ready for that, you could try reducing the amount of white chocolate chips — I find white chocolate way sweeter than regular chocolate chips. Or subtract a tablespoon or two of sugar.
• If you want to shape the cookies, do it as soon as they come out of the oven when they're still soft and pliable. You can pat the top of them down with a spatula if you want. You can also use your fingers to mend cracks or gaps, but don't burn yourself!
• If you want to chill or even freeze the dough first, you can. But then you'll need to remember to cook them for at least 2-3 minutes longer — and try to let the dough warm up for a while before baking it. I love that this cookie dough doesn't need to be chilled. When you place the cookie dough in balls on the baking sheet, they really don't spread out too much the way some cookie recipes do.

This gives you the idea of how big each ball of cookie dough will be if you're making 14 cookies. It also shows you they don't need to be perfectly shaped!

Note: As you get to the bottom of the cookie dough that you're forming, you might find you have a much bigger concentration of chocolate chips. These will still taste amazing, they can just be a bit harder to form.

Other Christmas Desserts & Recipes

This is my favorite time of year for food, so I've got lots of other Christmas recipes on XO&So if you want to check them out too.

Here are some of my favorites:

• FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE WITH CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD & CREAM CHEESE
• EGG CASSEROLE WITH COTTAGE CHEESE AND ROASTED RED PEPPER
• CARAMELIZED PEAR AND VANILLA BEAN PUFF PANCAKE
• RASPBERRY PISTACHIO BUTTER BARS

Time to dive in.

📖 Recipe

Oatmeal Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate Chips

5 from 2 votes

These soft & chewy Christmas cookies use the ultimate festive and delicious oatmeal cookie recipe with dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, & cinnamon.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 14

Course: Dessert

Calories: 237

Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• ½ cup unsalted butter very soft
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar packed
• 1 large egg at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups flour
• ⅔ cup large flake oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried, sweetened cranberries I use Craisins

Method

 

1. Put the Craisins/dried cranberries into a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes. Set aside. (This stops them from pulling too much moisture from the cookies).
2. Preheat your oven to 350°F and make sure your baking rack is in the middle of the oven.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, mix the room temperature butter and the sugars together for 1-2 minutes or until fluffy and well-combined.

   Mix in the egg, then add in the vanilla extract.
5. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and continue mixing until just combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

   Drain the Craisins/cranberries.

   Then mix in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries until thoroughly combined. (You will likely want to use the heat of your hands here to incorporate all of the ingredients and get the dough to form better)
6. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and divide the dough into 14 balls and roll them into balls — they don't need to be perfectly round (see picture). 

   Leave a bit of room between each ball of cookie dough so they have some room to spread.
7. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 13-17* minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned and the top is set — I always bake mine for 13 minutes. (Yours could take a few more or a few less depending on your oven)

   Remove cookies from the oven and cool on a baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Store in an air-tight container on the counter.

Nutrition

Calories: 237kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 3gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 150mgPotassium: 78mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 124IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg

Notes

If you're having trouble getting your dough to hold together, you can try adding a tiny bit of room temperature water (about a tsp. at a time) to add some moisture to the dough and help it hold together. 

Note: As you get to the bottom of the cookie dough that you're forming, you might find you have a much bigger concentration of chocolate chips. These will still taste amazing, they can just be a bit harder to form. It's helpful to keep mixing the cookie dough as you go to grab the chocolate chips that fall to the bottom.

Cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen for an additional 2-3 minutes. You can also bake the cookies and then freeze them for up to three months, but let them come to room temperature before serving. 

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

Even though I'm calling these Christmas cookies, the truth is they're good all year round! Can't wait to hear what you think of these.

XO - Chelsea