Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

Christmas to me is all about coming home to a warm house with the smell of freshly baked goodies. To say that my mum and I go a little mental baking-wise over the festive season is an understatement. Sadly, this is the first Christmas that I’ve been too busy to bake everything that I want! Cookies are one of the easiest things to make though, so if you’re stretched for time like me, bung these in the oven and bask in the Christmassy smell.

This is a Nigella recipe from her book Nigella Christmas. I know she’s been getting a lot of bad press at the moment but I really don’t give a damn, she’s still a domestic goddess to me. I did omit the pecans however, because no one really likes nuts in their cookies, do they?!

Ingredients

150g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

75g rolled oats

125g soft butter

75g dark brown sugar

100g caster sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla extract

75g dried cranberries

50g pecans, roughly chopped (optional…)

150g white chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C and line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment.

Measure the flour, baking powder, salt and rolled oats into a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.

Fold in the flour mixture.

Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate. The original recipe says to use chocolate chips but personally I prefer roughly chopped chunks in my cookies.

Spoon walnuts sized balls onto the prepared baking trays, leaving plenty of room for spreading, and lightly squish the tops with a fork.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Leave them to harden on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Serve on a ridiculous Christmas plate which you only get to use once a year.