Dark Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

This is my third year participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

In its fourth year, the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.

In the past, I’ve made Hot Cocoa Cookies and Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies so I decided to do another spin on Chocolate Chip Cookies this year!

I adapted a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. She has these fantastic Soft Baked cookies on her blog, and I used her Soft Baked White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies as the inspiration for this recipe. The secret to these soft and chewy cookies is the addition of cornstarch.. who would’ve thought??

I changed Sally’s original recipe just a touch, adding dark chocolate chips instead of white, using light brown sugar instead of dark, and substituting in almond extract for the vanilla extract. If you’re looking for some baking inspiration this holiday, absolutely check out Sally’s Baking Addiction, you won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

adapted from sallysbakingaddiction.com

Add the room temperature butter to a large bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula so that the butter is back in the center of the bowl. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and mix on high until light in color.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Add the egg and almond extract, beating on high until fully combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl one more time. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet (1/2 cup at a time) until fully combined. This makes a very thick cookie dough.

Add in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries and mix on low until evenly combined.

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 2 days.

Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes (if the cookie dough was chilled longer than 2 hours, let sit for 30 minutes).
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Scoop and roll balls of dough using a tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the dough. Place 9-12 on each baking sheet, giving even space between each cookie.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. They will look really soft and puffy, so check for a slight golden brown around the edges to know that they are done.

Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet. The cookies will deflate a bit as they cool. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

I made two batches of this recipe so that I had three dozen cookies to send to other bloggers, plus a dozen for my boyfriend and I. And that poor extra one dozen didn’t stand a chance. We gobbled them up in no time! The cookies really are so soft and chewy, they maintain that “just baked” texture even a day later. (I’m assuming they keep that texture for a few days, but um… ours were gone in 24 hours time.)

The dried cranberries are such a nice complement to the chocolate chips and I enjoyed the subtle flavor of the almond extract. It was nice to have a pop of red color in the cookies too! I hope the other bloggers enjoyed theirs as much as I did!