No matter what kind of baker you are, or how regularly you pull out your flour and butter, having a great chocolate chip cookie recipe in your arsenal is a must. And when that go-to recipe also includes dried fruit, coconut, and a lot less butter than comparable cookies, well, you can pull it out to share with family and friends for almost any occasion. This recipe for Coconut, Cranberry, and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, which features all of the flavors that you love in a chocolate chip cookie but also includes a few ingredients that make it almost healthful, is a favorite in our house. We love to share them, gift them, and eat them on Sunday afternoons curled up with a few good books.
I love this cookie recipe primarily because the end result tastes so good, but there are other aspects that make it one that I turn to again and again. Here are a few:
- It comes together in one bowl, so you won’t feel like you’re washing dishes for hours after you’re done baking.
- They somehow only require 1/2 of a stick of butter, which seems amazing compared with the other chocolate chip cookie recipe we make regularly which uses 2 sticks.
- The inclusion of dried fruit, coconut, and oats makes them chewy—but the butter and sugar ensures that they also have crisp edges. It’s the best of both worlds!
- The batch makes plenty to share or keep on hand for a while since they store nicely. This batch filled 2.5 quart-sized mason jars, so we were able to gift some to friends for the holidays (and enjoy some in our own house).
I didn’t change much about this recipe from the original apart from leaving out the walnuts and doubling the dried fruit. I used dried cranberries instead of cherries since that’s what my local store had, but the results are really similar, so use what you like best. (You can also use raisins or snipped dried apricots or dates.) You may also want to add a bit more chocolate than the recipe calls for, but I’ll leave that executive decision up to you.
Find the full recipe for Coconut, Cranberry, and Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies right here.