Bejewelled Cookies.

Cranberries have been all the rage in this household these days. With a never ending supply of cranberry juice in the fridge and dried cranberries on the counter, it was really only a matter of time that this craze invaded in the kitchen.


I've really never had dried cranberries in baked goods, or anything else for that matter so i wasn't sure what to expect. But truth be told, at first bite, i wasn't really sold. I'm chocolate chip cookie kind of girl, nuts are fine by me occasionally as are raisin when paired with rolled oats. But the cranberries in these cookies, just didn't do it for me. I guess given how much i adore dried cranberries on their own, i just wanted them to shine in these cookies.


It really just seemed like that was too much going on with these cookies- the slightly chewy and tart cranberries, smooth and dark chocolate chunks, crunchy and chunky peanuts as well as the chewy texture of the oats. While each ingredient is great on their own, when put together in a cookie, sadly, they just didn't blow me away.


On the bright side, these cookies were so easy on the eyes, with the bright red cranberries, almost resembling little sparkles of jewels, and the chunks of dark chocolate.

I'm not giving up on baking with cranberries yet though- they're such a great treat that they probably only need a plain simple pound cake to really shine :)

Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies [adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast]


Ingredients
140g flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
75g rolled oats
125g butter
75g brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
50g peanuts, roughly chopped
75g dried cranberries
140g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Beat butter and brown sugar together till light and creamy. Add egg and vanilla. Combine well.
4. Fold in flour mixture and add peanuts, cranberries, dark chocolate and milk, mixing well.
5. Put cookies mixture in the fridge for about 10 to 15 minutes. Spoon mixture onto the prepared trays by the tablespoonfuls, setting them about 2 inches apart. Press down with a fork. Bake for about 12 minutes till cookies are pale golden. Let cool on trays, cookies will firm up. Makes about 30