Double chocolate cranberry cookies are filled with rich dark chocolate, tangy cranberries, and smooth white chocolate chunks.
As many of you know, Son #2 has Aspberger’s Syndrome, which is classified as a form of autism. What this means in our family, is that my sweet boy marches to the beat of his own drummer. While he’s intelligent (like scary smart!), creative, and has a wry sense of humor, he’s a bit bashful and camera shy. We joke that he’s a lot like Sheldon Cooper but more affectionate, and with a better sense of humor.
Only Slightly Off Topic: Holy cow! You should be a fly on the wall in our house when we watch The Big Bang Theory. Son #2 cracks up at all of the Sheldonisms on the show, while we die laughing because we live with many of those quirks every day. It’s seriously hilarious!
As far as Son #2 and communication goes, we are fortunate that he’s quite verbal. Although his mind works so fast that he sometimes struggles with articulating what it is that he’s trying to get across in a way that we neuro-typical folks can understand the true meaning. Like, the kid will tell a 45 minute back story before getting to the point of asking a question. All the Details are important to him. Other times, he will opt to leave a short note with a question, asking me to answer by circling Yes or No. Or check the appropriate box. Or sometimes complete the code that he’s written the question in before I can reveal the question in order to answer it. He’s a clever one!
One day I walked into the kitchen to find a neat row of ingredients lined up on the kitchen counter. Son #2 was standing there with a huge grin on his face, enthusiastically pointing to a bag of dried cranberries. A quick inspection of the bag revealed a cookie recipe for white chocolate cranberry cookies. I went out on a limb asked if he wanted to make cookies. Son #2 did a Happy Dance in reply.
So we made the cookies from the recipe on the bag. Son #2 ate two of them before matter-of-factly stating, “I think these cookies would be better if they were double chocolate.”
Smart kid. Double chocolate cranberry cookies.
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 54
Rich dark chocolate cookies with tangy cranberries and smooth white chocolate chunks.
15 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 C. all-purpose flour
- ¼ C. unsweetened dark cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¾ C. granulated sugar
- ¾ C. light brown sugar, packed
- 1 C. unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 C. sweetened dried cranberries
- 8 oz. white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats; set aside.
- Whisk together flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. In a larger bowl, cream together melted butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until blended. Dump half of the flour mixture into the wet mixture, mixing until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir form a soft dough. Fold in the dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
- Using a small (1 oz.) cookie scoop, portion balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes for small cookies, or until crisp around the edges with set centers. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
- Cookies may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one week.
Notes
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Cook Time: 10 minutes (per batch), Total Time: 45 minutes
Obviously we had to Complete the Vision and try again. We quickly ditched the recipe on the bag, and instead slightly modified my recipe for Caramel Mocha Chip Cookies. The resulting double chocolate cranberry cookies were, in Son #2’s opinion, “The best cookies we’ve ever made in my whole life!”
The exterior of the cookie is crisp, yet remains chewy in the inside. The tangy cranberries balance the rich, dark chocolate flavor, which is further complimented by creamy chunks of white chocolate.
I bet even the finicky Sheldon Cooper would adore these double chocolate cranberry cookies. After all, they are Son #2 approved!
♥♥♥
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