Oatmeal cookies with cranberries and white chocolate

God, I love these cookies. I guess it's the cranberries and white chocolate that make them holiday-ish, but the truth is, they're good whenever and easy to make, and did I mention that I love them? The basic "oatmeal cookie" part of the recipe is pretty much straight off the lid of the Quaker Oats container, but instead of raisins, I kind of go my own way here. And, of course, I use butter (though I think the original calls for margarine).

Here's what you need:

2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups of oatmeal (I prefer the quick oats—it's a texture thing—but the old fashioned oats are also fine)
1 cup of cranberries (I use the Craisins)
1 heaping, generous, big cup of white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare your cookie sheets. Parchment paper is a lifesaver here.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside. With a mixer, cream the butter and slowly add the two sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat well.

Now add the combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the oats (I use the slowest mixer speed for this one). You'll need to mix in the Craisins and white choc. chips by hand. As a little aside, one of my most favorite kitchen tools is my cookie scoop. It looks just like an ice cream scoop, but smaller. Look at those fabulous uniform balls of dough!!

Okay, back to the recipe. Drop the dough onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until just lightly golden.

You want to seriously pay attention to the bake time here. The cookies will overcook very fast!! Let cool on a wire rack. I get about 5 dozen cookies from this recipe.

These are great packaged for gifts in fancy tins or boxes, or will keep for about a week in a ziploc bag. They also freeze beautifully. And I hear they are one of Santa's favorites!