Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Chewy vanilla cookies with tart cranberries against sweet white chips.

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time11 mins
Total Time1 hr 1 mins
YieldMakes 20 cookies
Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
Save to Pinterest
🛒 Our baking picks

Tools for foolproof bakes

Weighing beats scooping every time. These inexpensive tools make every recipe more reliable.

Digital kitchen scale Digital kitchen scale Weigh to the gram, the single most accurate way to bake. Available at Amazon Check price → Measuring cups & spoons Measuring cups & spoons A solid stainless set for when a recipe calls for cups. Available at Amazon Check price → Glass measuring jug Glass measuring jug Read millilitres and cups at a glance for liquids. Available at Amazon Check price →

As an Amazon Associate, GramCups earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.

Before You Start

White chocolate is sweet to the point of argument, which is exactly why dried cranberries belong next to it: their sharpness resets your palate between bites. This is a soft, chewy dough built on brown sugar, and the ten minute cranberry soak is the small step that stops the fruit baking into leather.

Instructions

  1. 1

    Cover the cranberries with boiling water and leave 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Plumped fruit stays soft through the bake.

  2. 2

    Beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

  3. 3

    Fold in the flour, baking soda and salt until nearly combined, then the cranberries and white chips.

  4. 4

    Chill 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line two trays.

  5. 5

    Scoop into 20 balls, space them out, and bake one tray at a time for 10 to 11 minutes until the edges are golden and the centres pale and puffed.

  6. 6

    Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then on a rack. They fall and wrinkle slightly as they cool, which is the chewy texture announcing itself.

💡 Baker's tips

  • White chocolate scorches easily. If your oven runs hot, bake these on the middle shelf and pull them at the first sign of colour on the chips.
  • The soak also stops the cranberries stealing moisture from the dough, which is why unsoaked fruit makes a dry cookie.

🔀 Make it your own

  • Add the zest of an orange to the butter for the full holiday version.
  • Swap cranberries for chopped dried cherries and the white chips for dark.

📦 Storing & freezing

Airtight for 5 days. The dough balls freeze for 3 months and bake from frozen with 2 extra minutes.

❓ Frequently asked

Should you soak dried fruit before baking?

For cookies, a 10 minute hot water soak plumps the fruit so it bakes jammy instead of tough, and stops it drawing moisture out of the dough around it.

Why did my white chocolate chips go brown?

White chocolate has no cocoa solids to protect it and toasts fast. Bake at 180°C or below, middle shelf, and take the cookies out while the chips are still ivory.

Baking in a different unit? Use the cups ↔ grams converter or the recipe scaler to halve or double this recipe.

More to bake

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Cookies Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Deeply toffee-ish, crisp at the edge, chewy in the middle. Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Cookies Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Soft and chewy in the middle with lightly crisp edges. Soft Peanut Butter Cookies Cookies Soft Peanut Butter Cookies Thick, tender and full of roasted peanut flavour, with the classic fork marks.
Play GramCups Café 🎮