Hearty, sweet, and finished off with a white chocolate dip, Pistachio & Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are the cookies of your holiday dreams!
I am a BIG fan of fall and winter flavors. Cinnamon, pumpkin, apple, cranberry… ugh, I am here for it. These flavors are perfection, especially when used in baked goods. I swear once fall hits, I am baking something new almost every day.
Whether it’s an Apple Cranberry Pie, or these incredible pistachio & cranberry oatmeal cookies, I love filling my home with the smells of delicious baked goods. My family is definitely not complaining about being taste testers!
These oatmeal cranberry cookies are super easy to make and they’re unique – not your average Christmas cookie. I guarantee they’ll be at the top of your holiday baking list!
PISTACHIO & CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES
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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here and I LOVE it. I’m all for each holiday having its time…. but you better believe that my Christmas decorations are out of the box practically the SECOND the Thanksgiving leftovers are packed into the fridge. Those decorations also stay up probably a little too long…but that’s another story for another day.
Right along with my Christmas decorations, outcome my favorite holiday baking recipes. I have a group of special recipes that I save specifically for baking around the holidays.
These are recipes that have been passed down for generations. Recipes that I’ve developed with my kids. Recipes that simply beg to be made around the holidays.
This oatmeal cranberry cookie recipe is one of those treasured recipes that I save for this special time of year. These oatmeal cranberry cookies have subtle hints of Christmas colors (green from the pistachios and red from the cranberries) and the flavor is simply perfection.
Pistachio & Cranberry Cookie Ingredients
Old Fashioned Oats: we always have one of those giant canisters of old fashioned oats in our pantry. These oats are SO versatile. We use them for overnight oats, oatmeal cookies, and plain ‘ole oatmeal for breakfast. In these delicious white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies, old fashioned oats give the cookies a hearty, healthy texture and taste.
Pistachios: my husband is obsessed with pistachios, so we always have an open package lying around the house. But, they’re not just a nut of convenience used in this recipe because they’re around. Their saltiness adds a delicious crunch to these cookies.
But, don’t fret if you don’t love pistachios. You could totally turn these into oatmeal cranberry walnut cookies, use chopped pecans, or your nut of choice!
Add-ons: These cookies taste amazing all on their own. BUT, if you want to take them one step further into the holiday spirit, I fully recommend dipping the bottoms of your cookies into some melted white chocolate chips. It adds an extra sweetness that is literally the icing on top (…or bottom I suppose) of an already delicious cookie. If you want to get EXTRA crazy, a little orange zest is a pretty amazing addition to this cookie dough..
How to Make Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Because these oatmeal cranberry cookies are my Christmas go-to, I have a tradition that I bake them with Christmas music blasting and a glass of wine in hand. I highly recommend this method – cookies come out perfect every time 🙂
- Turn up the tunes and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Now, beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. I love using my stand mixer for this step, but a hand mixer works just as well! Make sure you get the mixture super creamy, otherwise your cookie dough will be grainy.
- Add eggs one at a time into your sugar mixture mixing in-between each egg.
- Next, in a small bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Slowly add these dry ingredients into wet ingredients. I use my trusty wooden spoon for this step, you want to get everything combined, but not overmixed.
- Next, stir in the oats, pistachios, and craisins (AKA dried cranberries).
- Form your cookies into 2 tablespoon balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
- Pop your baking sheet into your preheated oven and let them bake for 12-14 minutes
- Once cooked, cool your cookies on a wire rack.
- Once cool, spread the melted white chocolate on the bottom of each cookie and set it upside down to cool.
Can you use Quick Oats for Cookies?
The short answer is, yes, you can use quick oats as a replacement for old fashioned oats. They’re made out of the same stuff, just processed a bit differently. Old fashioned oats are left bigger while quick oats are cut into smaller pieces.
While the flavor of the oatmeal cranberry cookies will remain the same regardless of what type of oats you have, the texture will change slightly. I prefer old fashioned oats simply because they give the cookies the hearty texture that oatmeal cookies typically have.
If you only have quick oats on hand though, make sure you watch your cookies as they bake. Quick oats are cut smaller and steamed longer so cookies made with them will often cook faster.
Are Oatmeal Cookies Healthy?
Ok, so I can’t certify that this oatmeal cranberry cookie recipe would count as HEALTH food. But hey, they’re better for you than some other types of cookies, especially because of the oats!
Oats have tons of fiber, something many of us are lacking in our diets. Oats are also filled with antioxidants, so by eating oatmeal cookies, you’re basically doing a cleanse…. right? Maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but as far as cookies go, oatmeal cranberry cookies have some great health benefits!
Looking for some more recipes to test out this holiday season? Here are some of my favorites!
- Extra Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Caramel Pumpkin Blondies
- White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Fudge
- Cherry Almond Breakfast Cookies
- Christmas Crack
- Pumpkin Cookies with Maple Frosting
- White Chocolate Cherry Pudding Cookies
- more DESSERT recipes…
Tools used to make this Pistachio & Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies recipe
Hand mixer: this is a great kitchen tool to have for baking recipes!
Cookie scoop: I LOVE this thing… it helps to keep cookie sizes even which makes each cookie bake perfectly.
*This post originally posted on 12/12/2012.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ¼ cups brown sugar lightly packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1-2 cups pistachios shelled and chopped
- 1-2 cups craisins
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 12 ounces white chocolate chips melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until fluffy and smooth.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two additions, mix until just combined after each addition.
- Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir in oats, pistachios, and craisins.
- Portion the cookie dough into 2 tablespoon balls and place 2 inches apart on a greased or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cookies are golden and set. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
- Once the cookies are cooled, spread some melted white chocolate on the bottom of each cookie and set them on the wire racks upside down to let the chocolate set up.
Nutrition
Dawn Henry says
How much do 2 sticks of butter accumulate too?
I’m from Canada and our butter comes in blocks, equally about 1.5 cups?
Dawn Henry says
Never mind, I googled it, 1 cup equals 2 sticks. Lol