These oatmeal craisin cookies are perfect for the holidays! Sweetened with brown sugar and maple syrup and topped with a simple three ingredient maple glaze, these delicious cookies are perfect for holiday gifting or just hoarding for yourself! They’re a great update to classic oatmeal raising cookies.
I decided to simplify my usual holiday baking with this cranberry oatmeal drop cookie, which doesn’t require as much fuss as some of the cookie classics.
This oatmeal cookie recipe is topped with a simple maple icing and has quickly become one of my favorite cookies. I love how quick and easy it is for the dough to mix up and can eve be frozen! They pair perfectly with my sugared cranberries and pecan snowballs, to make a nice holiday cookie tray for neighbors and friends.
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Why this recipe works
- Quick and easy recipe – This is a drop cookie style of dough which means it’s easier to contend with than a cut-out cookie. And they back up in 10-12 minutes.
- Perfect for packaging and gifting – Are you planning on shipping cookies to loved ones this year? Sturdy drop cookies like this one are ideal for gifting and mailing.
- Customizable for your favorite tastes – Add in dark chocolate chips or white chocolate chips or your favorite nuts. Or sub out the maple glaze topping for a bit of sea salt.
Ingredients for chewy oatmeal craisin cookies
- Butter – I prefer to use unsalted
- Brown Sugar – I love the caramel, molasses notes that brown sugar brings to the party.
- Baking Soda & Salt – Don’t use baking powder as it doesn’t react the same!
- Maple Syrup – I swapped out the traditional white sugar and used real maple syrup for a healthier natural way to help sweeten these cookies.
- Egg – Make sure it’s room temperature so it doesn’t seize up the butter in the dough.
- Vanilla – Of course all cookies need this classic extract to impart wonderful flavor.
- Flour – I used good old regular all purpose flour.
- Oats – You can use quick oats or old fashioned oats for this recipe.
- Dried cranberries – Often called craisins
How to make these cookies
Using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, in a large bowl cream the butter till soft and smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. You will cream this all together for about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Now add in wet ingredients of maple syrup, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined.
With the electric mixer on low, add in the flour and mix till just combined. Now combine oats and cranberries into the cookie batter and stir till just mixed. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop cookies about 2 inches apart. Using an ice cream scoop is a great way to get the perfect size cookie dough balls.
The cookies should take about 12 minutes in a 350 degrees f oven. Your cookies should be golden brown and slightly firm in the middle, but still soft to the touch.
While the cookies are baking go ahead and whip up the glaze. The maple icing is very simple to make! Just mix the three ingredients together until it’s smooth. You want a consistency similar to molasses, so you may need to adjust the consistency with a little water or milk.
Remove cookies when done baking, and allow to cool on a wire rack. Place rack over a large cookie sheet and drizzle with maple glaze. The cookie sheet catches the drizzle instead of your countertop.
While the cookies are baking go ahead and whip up the glaze. The maple icing is very simple to make! Just mix the three ingredients together until it’s smooth. You want a consistency similar to molasses, so you may need to adjust the consistency with a little water or milk.
Once the cookies are cooled, you can drizzle the maple glaze on the cookies. These are truly the perfect cookie for the holiday season and will be a huge hit with your family, neighbors, family and friends.
Expert tips for the best cranberry oatmeal cookies
- Soften Your Butter. If your butter is too cold you won’t be able to properly cream the butter and sugar together. This an important step to get the right texture. But make sure your butter isn’t too soft or melted, which can cause your cookies to spread.
- Use A Room Temperature Egg. Cold eggs will cause your softened butter to seize up! So make sure you take your eggs out ahead of time.
- Don’t Mix For Too Long. Overmixing at this point can cause very tough cookies in the end.
- Bake In The Center Of Your Oven. If you bake on a higher or lower rack, your cookies may overbake or end up with burnt bottoms.
- Make a double batch. Since they are great for gifting, you want plenty to have on hand to give and eat 🙂 They also store and freeze great.
Recipe FAQ’s
I’ve only tested with dried cranberries. Fresh cranberries will release a lot more moisture, obviously. So you may need to adjust the amount of flour you add, and adjust the baking time.
These cookies are fine to store at room temperature, in an airtight container, for up to a week. But you could also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.
If you want to get a hold of your cookie baking this year, you can also freeze the cookies before baking. Just simply scoop the cookies onto a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper) and freeze solid. Once they are frozen you can pop them into a plastic bag and they will keep for up to 3 months.
When ready to bake, just bake as frozen – no need to thaw! You just need to add a few extra minutes of baking time.
I can’t wait to hear how you like these cookies. I’m guessing they’ll be a hit! If they are, please consider leaving a comment and rating below. And check out these other holiday recipe favorites.
Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter unsalted and softened
- ¼ cup brown sugar lightly packed
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1.5 cups rolled oats quick cooking or regular
- ¾ cups dried cranberries
For the glaze
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl beat the butter with a mixer on medium for 30 seconds. Mix in the brown sugar, baking soda and salt and beat on medium for 1-2 minutes, until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Beat in the ¼ cup maple syrup, the egg and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour and beat on low.
- Stir in the oats and cranberries
- Drop dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are slightly brown and firm, but center is soft.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for approximately 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze
- In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, remaining maple syrup and vanilla, until well combined and no lumps remain. Your consistency should be like thick molasses, so add a bit of water or milk if it winds up too thick. Drizzle over cooled cookies.
Jeanne Gossmann says
Just made these for my Christmas cookie platter. They are delicious and I’m sure everyone will love.
Andrea Howe says
Yay! I hope you all loved them!
taylor says
i don’t usually like oatmeal cookies, but these were really good!