It’s Day 2 of my 12 Days of Christmas Cookies Series! I started off December with a recipe for butter pecan biscotti, made with brown butter, toasted pecans, drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt. And for today’s recipe, these deliciously thick and chewy high altitude Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies. They have a hearty oat texture, crunchy almonds, sweet bursts of dried cranberries, brown butter and hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
Chewy oatmeal cookies are such a classic recipe that many of us grew up eating. An oatmeal raisin cookie with a big glass of milk made the perfect after-school snack. I’ve taken that classic recipe and given it a little upgrade. The brown butter adds a nutty, rich depth of flavor that’s simply delicious with the chewy texture of the oats. Cranberries instead of raisins add delightful tartness. And a cozy blend of holiday spices make these perfect for a Christmas cookie box, as well as to stock the cookie jar.
Looking for more oatmeal recipes? Don’t miss these chocolate chip oatmeal cookie bars, soft and chewy oatmeal cream pies, and oatmeal with caramelized bourbon bananas and hazelnuts.
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Why You’ll Love These Cookies
Quick and Easy to Make. This is a simple recipe that you don’t even need a mixer for making the dough. Since it uses melted butter, it’s easy to mix the dough by hand. Then the dough just needs a short chill time before baking, so you can enjoy soft, warm cookies in a little over an hour.
So Thick and Chewy. If you love a soft, thick, chewy cookie, these cranberry almond oatmeal cookies are for you! They’re super thick, so chewy and hearty from the oats and dried cranberries, with a nice crunch from the almonds.
Perfectly Spiced. Since these are a holiday cookie, I used some of my favorite fall spices to add a cozy, warm flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture and flavor, while browning the butter adds a rich nuttiness.
- Granulated Sugar + Dark Brown Sugar. Adds moisture and sweetness, with a subtle hint of molasses.
- Molasses. Deepens the flavor and makes the cookies soft and chewy.
- Egg. Binds the dough together.
- Vanilla + Almond Extracts. Flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour. Provides structure to the cookies.
- Oats. I use old-fashioned oats in my baking, and they add a lovely crunch to cookies.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Baking Soda. Leavens the cookies, making them puff up a bit as they bake.
- Spices. A warm and cozy holiday spice blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg enhances the flavors of the almonds, cranberries and oats.
- Raw Almonds. Adds crunch and flavor.
- Cranberries. The dried, sweetened cranberries add sweet bursts of tartness throughout the cookies. Substitute raisins, if you prefer.
Instructions
Brown the butter.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. When the butter starts to foam, and nutty golden brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan, the butter is done.
- Scrape the browned butter, including all the browned bits, into a mixing bowl. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the cookie dough.
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and molasses to the butter, and mix until well combined – you can use either a stand mixer, hand-held mixer or mix the dough by hand.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract until the mixture is smooth and ribbony.
- Separately, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients, along with the almonds and cranberries, to the butter mixture and mix until all the dry bits are incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 12 portions (use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop to measure the portions). Shape each portion into a ball, then flatten the balls with the palm of your hand to about 1/2 inch thick. (If you don’t flatten the balls, they won’t spread enough as they bake).
- Chill the flattened dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Bake the cookies.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for exactly 8 minutes. The cookies will be just set around the edges, with a light golden color, and a gooey center. They will continue to cook and set up after you take them out of the oven, so DO NOT OVER-BAKE, or you’ll end up with dry, crumbly cookies.
- As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter (one that’s larger than the circumference of the cookies), and “scoot” it around the hot cookie to pull in the edges – this will give you a perfectly round cookie.
- Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of oats do you use?
I use old-fashioned oats, not quick oats or steel cut oats.
Should I use salted or unsalted almonds?
You can use either, but I prefer unsalted so I can control the saltiness of the cookies. If your almonds are salted, you should reduce the salt in the recipe.
Can I use fresh or frozen cranberries instead of dried?
No, only dried cranberries will work in this recipe. You could also use raisins, or any other chopped dried fruit that you like.
Can I make these into smaller cookies?
You can try it, but you’ll need to shorten the bake time. This recipe really works best as written for 12 large cookies.
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High Altitude Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tsp "old-fashioned" molasses (NOT Blackstrap)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup raw almonds, finely chopped
- ½ cup sweetened dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. When the butter starts to foam, and nutty golden brown solids have formed at the bottom of the pan, the butter is done. Scrape the browned butter, including all the browned bits, into a mixing bowl. Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar and molasses to the butter, and mix until well combined – you can use either a stand mixer, hand-held mixer or mix the dough by hand.
- Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extract until the mixture is smooth and ribbony.
- Separately, combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda and spices. Add the dry ingredients, along with the almonds and cranberries, to the butter mixture and mix until all the dry bits are incorporated.
- Divide the dough into 12 portions (use an ice cream scoop/cupcake scoop to measure the portions). Shape each portion into a ball, then flatten the balls with the palm of your hand to about 1/2 inch thick. (If you don't flatten the balls, they won't spread enough as they bake).Chill the flattened dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the chilled dough balls 3 inches apart on the baking sheet, and bake for exactly 8 minutes. The cookies will be just set around the edges, with a light golden color, and a gooey center. They will continue to cook and set up after you take them out of the oven, so DO NOT OVER-BAKE, or you'll end up with dry, crumbly cookies.
- As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter (one that's larger than the circumference of the cookies), and "scoot" it around the hot cookie to pull in the edges – this will give you a perfectly round cookie.
- Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
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