Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies. Decadent, soft and chewy inside, with crispy edges, these cookies have little pockets of tartness coming from the dried cranberries and crunchy pieces of hazelnuts in the folds. Absolutely fantastic, they would be a great addition to your holiday baking.
Song of the day: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams
The Sweetest Season
This recipe is part of The Sweetest Season, an annual virtual cookie swap co-hosted by Erin of The Speckled Palate and Susannah of Feast + West. Every year, I join other talented food bloggers and share a new holiday cookie recipes to make and give. This year, I decided to bake scrumptious, chewy, gooey Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies for all the chocolate cookie lovers out there.
Cookies from previous edition of The Sweetest season
- Baci di Alassio, Italian Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Kisses
- Christmas Double Chocolate Star Cookies
- Ciambelline Sarde (Sardinian Sandwich Cookies)
- Orange and Chocolate Star Cookies
- Abbracci, Italian Hugs Cookies
Ingredients
- dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
- flour 00 or all-purpose
- cinnamon
- baking powder
- hazelnuts, chopped (toasted, optional). Walnuts or pecans could be a good substitution.
- salted butter, softened
- coconut sugar or cane sugar
- vanilla extract
- egg
- dried cranberries
Preparation
Before you start making the cookies, preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line two medium baking sheets with parchment paper (or one big). You can choose to use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or, like me, a bowl and a vintage rotary hand whisk, or regular whisk.
Full recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Step 1: Melt the chocolate chips or chunks on a double boiler (bain-marie) and set aside to cool. Cream the butter and sugar. Chop the hazelnuts.
- Step 2: Add the egg and blend in the creamed butter and sugar.
- Step 3: Alternate adding the flour and melted chocolate gradually.
- Step 4: Lastly, incorporate the chopped hazelnuts and dried cranberries. Mix to combine.
- Step 5: Use a tablespoon for bigger cookies or a cookie scoop and scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space in between each cookie since they spread a bit.
- Step 6: Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Check them as they cook quite fast.
Lastly, leave the cookies in the baking sheet and place on the rack until fully cooled. They will harden a bit. Then, lift them with a spatula and place on a serving tray or cookie jar. Or freeze, for later use.
All in all, these Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies are great with a cup of tea or coffee, or simply with a glass of milk. We know they would make a great addition to any festive gathering. As for us, they were part of our early Christmas Brunch.
Hope you make them and let us know in the comments if you loved them as much as we did.
The Sweetest Season and Cookies for Kid's Cancer
Again, this year, we are raising money for Cookies 4 Kids' Cancer, which is a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to funding research for new, innovative and less-toxic treatments for childhood cancer.
Help us raise money for this important cause! Donate through our fundraising page.
Another exciting thing is that Cookies for Kids' Cancer is in a matching window with their friends at OXO, meaning OXO will be matching every dollar raised through the end of 2024, up to $100,000. Whatever money we raise will automatically double on our fundraising page!
Happy Holidays! Buone Feste!
PrintDark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies
Dark Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies. Soft and chewy inside, with crispy edges, these decadent cookies have little pockets of tartness coming from the dried cranberries and crunchy pieces of hazelnuts in the folds. Absolutely fantastic, they would be a great addition to your holiday baking.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Fusion
Ingredients
- 125 g dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 75 g flour 00 or all-purpose
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 25 g hazelnuts, chopped (toasted, optional)
- 45 g salted butter, softened
- 90 g coconut sugar or cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 30 g dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or 1 big).
- Chop the hazelnuts coarsely.
- Melt the chocolate chips or chunks on a double boiler (bain-marie) and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar.
- Add the egg and blend.
- Add the flour and melted chocolate alternating gradually.
- Lastly, incorporate the chopped hazelnuts and dried cranberries. Mix to blend.
- Use a tablespoon for bigger cookies or a cookie scoop and scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space in between each cookie since they spread a bit.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Check them as they cook quite fast.
- Take them out of the oven and leave on a rack to cool. Then, with a spatula, remove them from the baking sheet and finish cooling on the rack.
- Place on a serving tray, cookie jar, or freeze for later use.
Notes
You can successfully double the recipe if you want more cookies.
The cookies freeze well. Place them in plastic container with a lid and some parchment paper in between.
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
Michaela Kenkel says
I can't wait to try this recipe - chocolate and cranberries are a fantastically underrated combo and the world needs MORE of it! Yum!
Thank you! It is indeed a delightful combination. Everyone loved these cookies 😉 .
Megan says
LOVE a good chewy cookie! These sound delicious - I'll be making them ASAP!
Thank you so much! We love them, hope you'll love them, too!
Tessa says
What a fantastic combination, thank you for sharing this recipe! Do you use home-dried cranberries, or store bought? Just wondering if the cranberries have extra sugar added to them?
It's a really delicious combination! I used store bought and they were perfect. The cookies are definitely not too sweet. Thank you!
Susannah says
Dark chocolate and cranberries are a match made in holiday heaven — I’m so excited to try these in my cookie boxes! Thank you so much for participating in The Sweetest Season this year!
Thank you! I look forward to this sweet collaboration every year. Yes, the cookies are really really delicious!
Megan says
Dark chocolate and cranberry sound like such a great combo. Can't wait to make these!
Thank you! Hope you try, it's a really great combo!
Erin says
These cookies just look absolutely FANTASTIC and sing with some of my favorite flavors of the holiday season. I have no doubt they'll be the perfect addition to the cookie trays I plan to make next week. Personally, I can't wait to try them!
Thank you so much for participating in this year's Sweetest Season Cookie Exchange! I appreciate you taking the time to join in on the fun, support a great cause and share a delicious cookie. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Thank you so much, Erin! I love to be part of the Sweetest Season every year.