White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
When it comes to holiday baking, nothing beats the delicious flavor and festive look of white chocolate cranberry cookies. With their soft, chewy centers, bursts of tart cranberries, and creamy sweetness from white chocolate chips, these cookies are a classic that your family and friends will love. The white chocolate chips and red cranberries create a holiday cookie that looks as festive as it tastes.
Want more holiday cookies? Try my raspberry thumbprint cookies, double chocolate crinkle cookies, soft-baked gingersnap cookies, and Christmas meltaway cookies.
Why You’ll Love These Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies
These bakery-style cranberry white chocolate cookies are buttery, soft, chewy, and studded with creamy white chocolate chips and tart dried cranberries. They’re great any time of year, but especially during the holidays.
This recipe starts with my favorite cookie dough base. It has more brown sugar and vanilla for added richness and flavor, plus more flour, so there is no need to refrigerate the dough to prevent spreading. Simply make and bake. Although you can freeze the dough and bake it later, which makes it great for holiday gift giving and cookie exchanges.
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I have used this same cookie dough base for my chocolate chip cookies, m&m cookies, and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Basically you can add any mix-ins and it will taste amazing!
Ingredients You’ll Need
NOTE: Full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the printable recipe card at the end of the post.
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To whip up a batch of these white chocolate cranberry cookies, you only need a handful of pantry staples.
- Butter: Using unsalted butter will help control the amount of salt. If using salted butter, simply omit the salt completely or use half as much, depending on your salt tolerance.
- Brown Sugar: Gently packed. (We’re not building a sandcastle here.) The molasses in brown sugar adds a nice rich flavor.
- Granulated Sugar: For sweetness, crispness, and caramelization.
- Eggs: Use large eggs for a good amount of moisture and structure.
- Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: Stir, spoon, and then level the flour when measuring. This incorporates air into the flour so that it’s not packed into the cup, resulting in excess flour. (Weighing the ingredients is preferred for accuracy.)
- Salt: To enhance the flavors.
- Baking Soda: To help the cookies rise, spread, and brown.
- White Chocolate Chips: Splurge on a good brand. I prefer Guittard or Ghirardelli.
- Dried Cranberries: I used the less sugar Craisins and they were still great!
How to Make White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
After you’ve gathered your ingredients, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie trays with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, so you are ready to bake.
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and both sugars. Cream until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well and scrape the bowl with a spatula.
- Add the flour mixture. Mix on low until just combined.
- Add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Mix gently on low speed until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Use a #30 cookie scoop (about 2 Tbsp of cookie dough) to scoop the dough into balls and place them onto the prepared baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart (no more than 8 per tray). OPTIONAL: Generously press extra white chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the tops of the cookie dough balls, while maintaining a round shape. (For the best looking cookies.)
- Bake at 350˚F for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just barely starting to brown. For thicker cookies, press edges inward with a cookie spatula or swirl the edges with a round cookie cutter while still warm.
- Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Storing and Freezing
- STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container or on a plate covered tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- TO FREEZE COOKIE DOUGH: Scoop cookie dough balls onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Set in the freezer for 1-2 hours until firm. Then transfer frozen dough balls into a freezer-safe zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You will need to bake the cookies roughly 3-5 minutes longer, if baking from frozen.
- TO FREEZE BAKED COOKIES: Freeze baked cookies in single layers divided by parchment paper, wrapped well or in a freezer bag, up to 3-4 weeks. Thaw at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Amber’s tips for the best cranberry white chocolate chip cookies:
- Use room temperature butter. Room temperature butter should be slightly cold, and give a little when touched. Melted butter, or butter that is too soft, will make the cookies spread too thin. You can refrigerate the dough if your butter is too soft to help combat this.
- Stir, spoon, and level the flour – or it weigh in grams. Flour is probably the hardest ingredient to measure properly. Too much flour will result in a dense/dry cookie, which is usually the risk of using measuring cups over a kitchen scale. (affiliate) Weighing flour is the most accurate way to get the right amount. If using cups, do your best to stir the flour enough to incorporate air into it so that it’s light and fluffy. Then spoon the flour into the cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. Do NOT shake the cup to level it out or scoop directly into the flour.
- For soft cookies: Bake cookies until the edges are barely starting to brown and the centers look just slightly under-baked. Let the cookies rest on the pan for a few minutes, to finish baking, for a soft-baked cookie.
- For crispy cookies: Bake cookies until golden brown on the top and edges; baking an additional 2-3 minutes past the recommended time.
- For thick cookies: Use more cookie dough, and shape the cookie dough balls tall and round. You can also press the edges of the cookies inward just after the tray comes out of the oven. I like to do this with a serving spatula. (affiliate) For the thickest cookies, refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before baking. This slows the spread even more.
- For thin cookies: Use a smaller portion of dough, slightly softer butter, or slightly press the dough 1/3 of the way down after it is scooped.
- Can I use fresh cranberries instead of dried cranberries? Yes! Fresh cranberries can be used, but they will add extra moisture to the dough. If you use fresh cranberries, chop them into smaller pieces (at least in half) and add 1/4 cup more flour to the dough to account for the added moisture.
Helpful Tools
The proper tools make a difference! This is the equipment that I recommend for this white chocolate cranberry cookies recipe. (affiliate links)
- Kitchen Scale: To weigh the ingredients and achieve the same results as me. I exclusively use a kitchen scale when I bake now.
- Half Sheet Pans: The large size helps space the cookies properly for even baking.
- Silicone Baking Mats: Reusable and promotes even heat distribution.
- #30 cookie dough scoop: This helps the cookies bake evenly and look uniform. NOTE: The bigger the number, the smaller the scoop, and the smaller the number the bigger the scoop. A #30 scoop is about 2 Tbsp of cookie dough and is what I used for the cookies shown.
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups (406 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon & level)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, (2 sticks) room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, gently packed
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) white chocolate chips
- 1 cup (140 g) dried cranberries
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie trays with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and both sugars. Cream until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well and scrape the bowl with a spatula.
- Add the flour mixture. Mix on low until just combined.
- Add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Mix gently on low speed until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Use a #30 cookie scoop (about 2 Tbsp of cookie dough) to scoop the dough into balls and place them onto the prepared baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart (no more than 8 per tray). OPTIONAL: Generously press extra white chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the tops of the cookie dough balls, while maintaining a round shape. (For the best looking cookies.)
- Bake at 350˚F for 10-12 minutes until the edges are just barely starting to brown. For thicker cookies, press edges inward with a cookie spatula or swirl the edges with a round cookie cutter while still warm. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- STORAGE: Store cookies in an airtight container or on a plate covered tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- TO FREEZE COOKIE DOUGH: Scoop cookie dough balls onto a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. Set in the freezer for 1-2 hours until firm. Then transfer frozen dough balls into a freezer-safe zip-top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You will need to bake the cookies roughly 3-5 minutes longer, if baking from frozen.
- TO FREEZE BAKED COOKIES: Freeze baked cookies in single layers divided by parchment paper, wrapped well or in a freezer bag, up to 3-4 weeks. Thaw at room temperature.
Nutrition
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