I love baking all year long, but holiday baking is my favorite! It gives me an excuse to make massive amounts of treats to share with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, anyone and everyone! And I am even more excited this year because my handsome husband gets to help! Yahoo!!
I go into mad baking mode. I turn on the holiday tunes and spend hours and hours in the kitchen. I can really belt out “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.” 🙂 It is so much fun!! And when the baking is complete, I get to package my goodies in cute bags, boxes, and tins with festive colors and ribbons!! Oh, I am getting excited already!!
This year my baking “to do” list is still not completely finalized. I keep changing my mind on what I want to bake and give out. There are too many great recipes out there. I do have my standards that I will be doing, but I am going to add in some new treats this year.
I recently tried a new cookie recipe and it might make the holiday list. I made Cranberry Orange Oatmeal cookies and they are so good and so festive!
To bring out the orange flavor, I soaked the dried cranberries in orange juice for ten minutes and then drained them. I also added in orange zest. The flavor was amazing! I love cranberry and orange together. The oats made the cookies nice and chewy...and they stayed soft, my favorite kind of cookie!!
I know the holidays are meant for splurging, but these cookies are actually healthy!! There is so much flavor going on you won’t be able to tell though!I promise…you will love these!! And if you live close, beware, you might be receiving these in the near future:)
I am submitting these to Susan at Food Blogga, who has started a collection of Christmas cookies. Be sure to go to this site for lots of great holiday recipes!!
Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ cup chunky-style applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one orange
1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
½ cup orange juice
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the dried cranberries in a small bowl. Pour orange juice over the berries and soak for ten minutes.
- Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until combined. Add egg, applesauce, vanilla, and orange zest, mix until well blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Drain the orange juice from the cranberries and mix them into the dough.
- Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpats, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden and just set, about 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool them completely.
great cookies!!! my favorite oatmeal plus in season’s cranberry!
Do you give away your cookies to your friends? how would you wrap it as gift?
I’m thinking baking cookies as holiday gifts as well.
Those cookies look great. I agree, cranberry and orange make a great combination. Have fun with all your holiday baking!
Oh, how I WISH that I lived closer to you so that I could possibly be one of the lucky recipients of your cookies! Cranberry and orange is one of my favorite flavor combos! These look delicious, and I love that they are healthy, too! Oh, and I didn’t realize that you are newlyweds! I know that this Christmas will be extra special and fun — I still can remember our first married Christmas together, decorating our first tree, etc. Great memories!
I love cranberries in oatmeal cookies but never thought to add orange, great idea!
Good idea soaking the cranberries in the orange juice. I agree they are festive and I bet the taste as amazing as they look!
Yum, those cookies look fantastic!
I love how you get into mad baking mode shouting out Xmas tunes!!!!! These look great!
mmm… the cranberry made it more festive… 🙂
These look and sound absolutely delicious. I want to grab one>
Looks like a great cookie to submit!
What a delicious combination of flavors and textures!
Yum. I love cranberry and orange together – they compliment each other so well. Great recipe.
Such a classic combo! Well done 🙂 I must confess I love holiday baking too, but it’s kinda selfish– I feel better about myself spreading the calories around 😀
oh awesome — oatmeal cookies are so great (and even a little bit healthy)!
I love all of the flavors going on here – I will have to try these!
My mom taught me that trick about soaking the cranberries in oj. It really punches up the flavor, doesn’t it? These oatmeal cookies sounds amazing, and they’re a delightful addition to Eat Christmas Cookies! Thanks!
MARVELOUS!!
Those cookies sound fabulous! What a great holiday twist on already-yummy oatmeal cookies.
What a wonderful combination and perfect for the holiday season. I can’t wait to give them a try.
Wow, these sound just delicious. I too love cranberry & orange flavors together! I'm sure you'll have very happy neighbors this year 🙂
YUM! Bookmarking this recipe!
Love the fact that you made it with just a 1/4 cup of butter… looks awesome!
I love Oatmeal cookies … these sound so good with the orange and cranberry! I love your header!
Now these are more my style than the ones I made. Look great.
Yum to the cookies and cute wedding photo of you and the husband!
I love love love the new photo of you and your hubby! Beautiful couple!
And the cookies arent too bad either!!! Love the OJ soaked cranberries!
Maria,
I have a cranberry orange bread in the oven right now!!!
I know, I know, it’s supposed to be salad week at my house!
Stacey
Looooove the new pic on the blog, you are gorgeous! We are in the same zone. I just made these but with dried cherries and added chocolate chips!
I love the combination of orange and cranberry too and your cookies look awesome…and healthy too !
Sounds like we would make good kitchen buddies- I love holiday baking the most too. These cookies sound amazing- I love cranberries and orange.
I love oatmeal cookies – these look wonderful!
These sound wonderful. I love cranberry and orange together too!
They are similar to an Oatmeal Cranberry Orange Biscotti that I make every holiday. I like your chewy version… I will have to try them!
LOVE the blog refresh! The new design is so sweet – and yes I DID notice your little ladybugs on the tablecloth. Cranberry and orange is so nice together and I’ll take a batch any way I can get them. 🙂
wow -those are some great looking cookies you made there. And love the flavor combinations! This will be a great Christmas for you both! I hope you have a lifetime full of wonderful Decembers!
These sound very very good, I love it that there’s cranberry and orange in them!
Yum! I wish I could have one of your cookies.
I can’t wait to start on my holiday baking too! Still trying to figure out how to package up the cookies though. Anyway these look delicious! I can imagine the addition of orange is yummy.
These look so good! The list of recipes I want to make from your blog just gets longer… 🙂
I love holiday baking too! I’ve been having a great time already. I love your wedding picture on your blog. It’s so pretty! Your cookies look great. I’ll have to try this recipe.
Yay for the start of holiday baking! I’ve already got my ipod loaded with fun Christmas songs!
You’re so cute! I love how excited you get!
Those are about the most perfect cookies I’ve ever seen.
They look wonderful. These cookies rock!
i love to “sing” certain christmas songs, too, as long as no one’s around. i’m not sure what i do can legitimately be called singing. 🙂
meanwhile, awesome cookies. cranberry and orange simply belong together. 🙂
Those cookies look mighty good! I love cranberries…
Great banner, by the way!
cheers,
Rosa
good-looking cookies…these would make great christmas gifts!
The whole time I’m reading this I’m thinking “GET OUTTA MY HEAD!!” For the past few weeks, I’ve been cranking the Christmas music up LOUD while I bake. My mom and I do Christmas cookies every year. This year I really wanna try out some new cookies along with the old stand-bys that people expect from us (our meticulously decorated sugar cookies especially!). Today I tried out a recipe for Dorie Greenspan’s “World Peace” Cookies. I’ll post the recipe soon. I still have the Christmas music playing! 😀
THese look great and perfect for the season. I’m baking like crazy for Christmas and really need to stop myself. I have several different kinds in the freezer and I know that I want to bake at least 5 more different ones. Like you, I keep changing my mind! The cookies are going to be stacked mighty high on the trays this Christmas. :o)
These cookies are just gorgeous – the cranberries are like little jewels.
These look yummy, Maria! There’s something so special about Christmas baking! I love it and always do it!
Gorgeous cookies and so festive with the cranberies.
Rosie x
Anything with cranberry is a hit with me and these sound and look very Christmassy.
Maria
x
yum I love anything with orange! your cookies look delicious 🙂
Cranberries and orange go so well together, I can imagine how good these are!
Those cookies look so good! I have been wanting to try making some oatmeal cookies and using cranberries is a good idea.
this is very similar to a recipe i tried from annie’s eats that is on my blog…the cranberries are soaked in the eggs to plump up but i like your idea of using OJ instead. these are some of my favorite cookies – try them with white chocolate chips, it’s so good!
Wow! I love this recipe! I think I like it better than mine. I will give it a try. Thank you for stopping by and visiting. I love finding your blog! I'll be back!