WHITE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

Get ready for a really, really good cookie! This one is very crispy on the outside with a wonderfully tender, slightly crunchy interior. A subtle orange flavor with a hint of cinnamon perfectly complements the creamy white chocolate chips and tangy dried cranberries. These are a little piece of heaven.

A word about white chocolate chips: Please read the package labels before you buy. If you see "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" anywhere in the list of ingredients, put the package back and find one that doesn't contain those words. Look for pure cocoa butter in the list of ingredients. Wal-Mart used to have Sam's Choice White Chocolate Chips, which contained pure cocoa butter. They were Wal-Mart's best kept secret and I bought them for years, reveling in the creamy rich cocoa flavor of their chips. But to my dismay, they discontinued them recently and I'm left to search for alternatives now. I bought Ghiradelli last time, and while they're not as good as the Sam's Choice, they're vastly superior to Nestle. I would do without white chocolate if Nestle were the only supplier left on the planet.

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from RecipeGirl.com

Rating: 10 out of 10

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1-1/2 tsp. grated orange zest

1/2 cup quick (not instant) oats

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1/4 cup toasted broken walnuts

5 Tbsp. Smart Balance 50/50 blend

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 egg (1-1/2 Tbsp.)

1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. orange extract

Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, zest and oats; stir in chips, berries and walnuts; set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat SB and sugars till smooth. (I do this by hand, because I've found that my cookies are much better when I make them by hand. They never collapse in the center; they're always fat and puffy, and the texture is better. I believe this is because hand beating doesn't overheat the dough.)

Beat in egg, vanilla, & orange extract. Stir in dry ingredients.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, 2" apart. Bake until edges are light brown, 11-13 min. (Mine took 12 min., and I put a toothpick in the centers to check for doneness.) Cool in pan 2-3 min., then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling. Yield: 11 cookies

NOTE: If you want a bigger batch, just double the ingredients. These cookies will not spread much; they'll stay high and puffy and look like little miniature scones.

OATMEAL STREUSEL COOKIES

I'm a blog-hopper like so many others. One of the blogs I hop to weekly is Baking Bites, where I found this recipe, the brainchild of Baking Bites blogger Nicole. The concept of using streusel as an ingredient in, rather than on, a baked good is not new. But how do you bake streusel in a cookie or in a pancake? Nicole has the answer: bake the streusel by itself first. Baking the streusel solidifies it so that it can be mixed into the cookie (or pancake) batter without "losing" it.

But I do have a caveat -- think about what you would like to add to this cookie. I made the recipe as Nicole offered it, only subbing whole wheat flour and Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend in the streusel and subbing some stevia for part of the sugar in the cookie dough. The cookies tasted good, but something was missing. What was it? I conjectured on butterscotch morsels, chocolate chips, raisins, or more sugar in the streusel. I thought of adding a drizzle as you would for a coffee cake, but decided the mix-ins are an easier alternative. These options have been added to the recipe below, and I think the results will be a sweeter and more satisfying cookie. You really should try this recipe, just once. I think you'll like the crunchiness and unique texture, especially if you incorporate my changes.

Oatmeal Streusel Cookies

Adapted 1/2 Batch from bakingbites.com

Rating: 8 out of 10

INGREDIENTS:

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup Smart Balance 50/50 blend

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In medium microwaveable bowl, melt Smart Balance on high, about 45 seconds. Stir in all remaining streusel ingredients and blend with fork till mixture is like wet sand. Grab handfuls of mixture and press together into clumps. Drop gently onto baking sheet. Bake 15-18 minutes, or until firm and golden. Let streusel cool while preparing cookie dough, or store in airtight container after cooled.

Oatmeal Cookie:

1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup sugar + 1-1/2 tsp. stevia)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups quick (not instant) oats

3/4 cup butterscotch chips, raisins or chocolate chips, or combo

3/4 cup streusel (I didn't measure - I just used all the streusel above)

Heat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in small bowl. In large bowl, by hand or using electric mixer on low speed, cream butter and sugars till smooth. (Don't overbeat, or your cookies will fall after they come out of the oven. Overbeating heats the butter. I mix all my cookies by hand to avoid the possibility of overbeating.) Add egg and beat again till it is incorpoprated. Stir in vanilla, followed by flour mixture. Stir till flour is incorporated. Stir in oats, chips (and/or raisins) and streusel. (If any streusel pieces seem to large, break them before mixing in.) Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes, until cookies are light gold around the edges. (I insert a toothpick near center of cookie -- when it returns almost clean, cookie is done.) Transfer to wire rack to cool. Yield: 20 cookies

OATMEAL DROP COOKIES

I'm back in the cookie business! Our friends, Tom and Sara, have opened a photography studio at the base (Cherry Point Naval Air Station, about 1/2 hour from New Bern). Their grand opening is this Thursday, June 12; and I offered to bring cookies. Tom asked for chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal. So I started with oatmeal; but what I should tell you right off is that I'm not an oatmeal cookie fan. Oatmeal cookies just don't excite me. This recipe is from a very old cookbook, one that I got when I was first married in 1963. I've used the recipe before and the cookies were great, for oatmeal cookies that is. This time, the first batch came out with a great flavor, but they were a little dry. I gave the first batch to Sara to take to her grandkids who can dunk them in milk. For the second batch, I reduced the flour from 2 cups to 1-1/2 cups, and eliminated the 2 Tbsp. of raisin water that the recipe called for. If I make them again, I'll use 1-3/4 cups flour. These cookies are crispy on the edges and nicely chewy inside with an excellent flavor. You'll get 2 dozen 3-1/2" cookies with this recipe. Oh, and the recipe calls for walnuts which I think would be really good, but Tom doesn't like nuts, so I kept them out. Even though these cookies are quite good, I'm still not an oatmeal cookie fan. I mean you'll never catch me saying, "I'm dying for an oatmeal cookie," yet I will enjoy eating one now and then.

Oatmeal Drop Cookies

Rating: 9 out of 10

1 cup seedless raisins (or 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts)

1/2 cup orange juice or water

1-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg (freshly grated, if possible)

2/3 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar + 1-1/2 tsp. Stevia)

2 Tbsp. molasses

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups old-fashioned (not quick) oats

Grease baking sheets lightly, or line pans with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 400F. Heat juice and raisins in small pot; simmer 3 minutes; drain.

Sift flour, then measure (spoon lightly and level) into a medium bowl. Add salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk together; set aside. (If at all possible, use whole nutmegs and grate them yourself. The flavor difference is remarkable.) (In a large microwaveable mixing bowl, melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Add the sugar and molasses and whisk till it's smooth and well combined.

Add egg and vanilla and whisk till smooth. Add flour mixture and just mix till barely combined.
Now fold in oats and drained raisins and and drop about 2 Tbsp. batter onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-11 minutes, or till light brown. (The molasses will make the cookies brown rather quickly.) Let stand on baking pan a minute, then remove to cake rack to finish cooling. Store in container with tight-fitting cover with waxed paper between layers, or freeze. Yield: 24 3-1/2" cookies.