Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies use fresh chopped cranberries instead of dried, which is the move that sets them apart from a standard oatmeal cookie. Fresh cranberries burst in the oven, leaving little tart-sweet pockets of jammy fruit through the chewy oat crumb. Dried cranberries work in a pinch, but the contrast disappears.

The orange element does serious work here. Both the cookie dough and the icing carry orange zest, and the icing also takes a tablespoon or two of fresh orange juice. The bitter-bright citrus oil in the zest cuts through the brown sugar sweetness and amplifies the tartness of the cranberries. It’s a flavor-stacking trick that wakes everything up.

The brown sugar is the only sugar in the dough. That’s intentional. Molasses-rich brown sugar produces chewier cookies and supports the warm spice notes (cinnamon, nutmeg) better than granulated white sugar would.

Dip the tops of the cooled cookies in the icing for the cleanest, glossiest finish. Drizzling works too if you prefer a less coated look, but dipping is faster and gives uniform results.

Pro Tips

• Chop fresh cranberries by hand or pulse in a food processor briefly. Fully pureed berries bleed into the dough.
• Toast the walnuts for 5 minutes before chopping for richer, butter-y flavor.
• Wait until the cookies are completely cool before icing. Warm cookies melt the icing into a runny mess.
• Cookies should look slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven. They firm up on the sheet.

Variations

• Swap walnuts for pecans or hazelnuts.
• Substitute lemon zest and juice for the orange in both the dough and icing.
• Stir in a half cup of white chocolate chips for a richer holiday cookie.