Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

4.5 from 2 votes
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Crisp and chewy White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are not your basic gluten free oatmeal cookie recipe. Besides plenty of white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and chopped cashews, they get a nutty upgrade with brown butter. These festive gems will be a lovely addition to your holiday cookie platter.

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies – Flourless and Gluten Free

If you want a classic cookie, there’s nothing more nostaligic than Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. But sometimes you want to up your flavor game, even if you want to stick to a traditional cookie. That’s where this recipe comes in. With a lot going on in the flavor and texture departments, these are anything-but-basic.

Enjoy the cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookies with some milk, put them out on your Christmas cookie platter, take them to a cookie exchange yourself, or package them up and send them off to someone special! A little crisp, a little chewy, and so full of delicousness, I hope you love them!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies tied in a red snowflake-shaped dish on top of stacked white and plaid cloth napkins.

Why You’ll Love Them

Browning some of the butter adds a nutty richness to these White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, especially when paired with buttery cashews. White chocolate adds sweet pockets with a more subtle flavor than milk or dark chocolate. And of course, cranberries are festive and add a tart contrast to the sweet, buttery flavor of the other ingredients. I’m kind of in love!

Even though these cookie are fully-loaded, this might be one of the easiest ways to make gluten free oatmeal cookies, whether are used to baking gluten free or not. Why? Because the only flour in them is made from grinding up some of the oats. No extra gluten free flour needed!

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies on a green glass Christmas tree-shaped dish on top of red and white napkins with a glass of milk.

Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients

Here is your simple list of ingredients and some information that might be helpful. For the full amounts and step-by-step directions, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  • Unsalted butter. Let it soften to room temperature. Some will be used for the browned butter and the other stick will be added as-is to the dough.
  • Old-fashioned oats. Use certified gluten free oats, if needed. You’ll pulse some of them in a blender or food processor to make oat flour.
  • Cornstarch. Helps beind the dough so it doesn’t spread too much, while keeping them tender.
  • Ground cinnamon.
  • Baking powder.
  • Salt.
  • Granulated sugar.
  • Light brown sugar. Lightly packed.
  • Large eggs.
  • Pure vanilla extract.
  • White chocolate chips. Be sure they are gluten free, if necessary. Ghiradelli are not, but at the time of writing, Nestle Toll House chips are. But always check labels for updated information.
  • Dried cranberries. Also known as craisins.
  • Chopped cashews. I use raw cashews, but you can use roasted and salted if you want a hint of salty-sweet flavor.

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How to Make White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

There are a couple of extra steps compared to your basic oatmeal cookie, but it truly makes these extra special and delicious. Here’s what you need to do.

Brown the butter. In a small pan, melt one stick of the butter medium-low heat until melted, then cook slowly until the butter begins to turn brown, stirring or whisking occasionally. Remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool to room temperature.

Preparations. Preheat oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Add 1 1/2 cups of the oats to a blender and grind it into a fine powder.

Make the dough. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another large bowl, cream the cooled browned butter, the softened stick of butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Then beat in the eggs and vanilla, and blend in the dry ingredients at low speed.

Add the mix-ins. With a spatula, fold in white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, cashews, and the remaining 3 cups of oats that were not ground into flour.

Bake and cool. Drop dough in about 1 tablespoon mounds onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown at the edges. Then cool on the pans for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies tied in a red snowflake-shaped dish and more on a cookie sheet behind them with an oven mitt.

Tips for Success

Don’t burn the butter. It’s better to err on the side of not browning it enough versus browning it too much. If it gets too dark, it’ll taste bitter, not nutty.

Make your own oat flour. Instead of calling for separate oat flour or another gluten free flour, you are going to make it from some of the oats in the recipe. Add the oats to a blender (or you can use a food processor) and pulse it several times and then let the blender run until it’s light and powdery.

Use a spatula. Once you’ve made the dough with your mixer, you’ll want to fold in the oats and other goodies. A mixer will chop up the chips, and once the oats are starting to get mixed in, it’ll be too much for the mixer to handle.

Line your pans. These tender White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies can stick easily and then will crumble. So lining your pan with parchment paper will ensure they slide right off.

Change your mix-ins. You can use other types of chocolate chips, swap the cashews for chopped pecans or walnuts, and replace the craisins with another dried fruit.

Four White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies tied with a red ribbon ona silver oval dish and more on a cookie sheet behind them with an oven mitt.

Storing Cookies

Store your cookies in an airtight container or a plastic storage bag with as much of the air squeezed out as possible. You may then want to put the bag into a cookie tin to keep them from getting crushed or broken.

Once packaged, these White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies can be kept at room temperature for up to a week, which means they are great for shipping.

If you want to do your holiday baking ahead of time, you can freeze the baked cookies or even the cookie dough for up to two months.

Gluten Free White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies tied in a red snowflake-shaped dish on top of stacked white and plaid cloth napkins.

More gluten free cookies

Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies tied in a red snowflake-shaped dish on top of stacked white and plaid cloth napkins.
4.5 from 2 votes

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

These White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies are simple to make, but they are fully-loaded. A crisp, chewy flourless gluten free oatmeal cookie recipe gets an upgrade with brown butter. And it is studded with loads of white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and chopped cashews. These festive gems will be a lovely addition to your holiday cookie platter.
Servings: 72 cookies (6 dozen)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
  • 4 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats, divided (gluten-free if needed)
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup chopped cashews

Instructions

  • in a small pan, brown one stick of the butter by melting over medium low heat until melted, then cook slowly until the butter begins to turn brown, stirring or whisking occasionally. Be careful not to burn the butter. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Add 1 1/2 cups oats to a blender, then grind into a fine powder.
  • In a bowl, whisk together ground oats, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
  • In a large bowl, with a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the cooled browned butter, the remaining stick of butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
  • Reduce mixer speed to low, and gradually add the ground oat mixture, beating until combined.
  • With a spatula, fold in white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, cashews, and remaining 3 cups oats.
  • Drop dough in about 1 tablespoon mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
  • Bake about 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown at edges.
  • Let cool on sheet on a wire rack 2 minutes, then transfer to rack to cool completely.

Notes

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies
Nutrition Facts
White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Amount Per Serving (1 cookie)
Calories 72 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 2g10%
Trans Fat 0.1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 12mg4%
Sodium 20mg1%
Potassium 39mg1%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 86IU2%
Vitamin C 0.01mg0%
Calcium 11mg1%
Iron 0.3mg2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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5 Comments
  1. Marie

    This recipe looks amazing! Do you have recommendations for substitutes for the white and brown sugar! Thanks you!!

  2. Holy moly girl, these look incredible! I’ve never attempted a flourless cookie before, and this might be my foray into that territory! I love oatmeal cookies and your mix-in’s are perfect!
    I pinned and you were my #pinoftheday on G+ too 🙂
    Happy Wednesday!
    ang

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