Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

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These Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and chewy, and have lightly crisp edges. They’re full of tart cranberries and sweet white chocolate chips in every bite! These easy-to-make cookies are perfect for the holidays – or any day!

A Classic Cookie Flavor

These cranberry white chocolate chip cookies are based on my white chocolate macadamia cookies, which are a classic and well-loved recipe. This version changes it up a bit and adds dried cranberries for a little holiday twist. While cranberries are delicious all year long, they seem very Christmas-y to me. I love the deep flavor from the brown sugar in these cookies with the pop of sweet and tart from the white chocolate and cranberries. It’s a delicious combination that definitely deserves a spot on your cookie tray.

Why You’ll Love These Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

• Soft and chewy. These cranberry white chocolate chip cookies have the PERFECT level of chewiness to them. They’re just a little crisp and golden on the outside but the inside is super soft and chewy. So perfect!
• Made with pantry staples. Beyond the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries, the rest of the ingredients in this cookie recipe are probably already in your pantry. Perfect for whipping up anytime.
• Easy! The dough comes together in just a few minutes and requires nothing more than a mixer, bowl, and spatula. They bake up in just 8 minutes too!
• Make the dough ahead. The dough in this recipe does need to chill for a few hours, so I like to make it a night in advance. Just pull it from the fridge an hour or so before baking.

If you love cranberry + white chocolate together, be sure to check out my cranberry bliss bars and white chocolate dipped cranberry oatmeal cookies!

What You’ll Need

It’s not a long list of ingredients, but here’s what you’ll need and why. Scroll down to the recipe card below for exact measurements.

• All-purpose flour – Be sure to measure the flour accurately to avoid cookies that spread too much or too little.
• Baking soda – This adds chewiness to these cookies and helps them brown nicely.
• Salt – For bringing out the flavors in the cookie. Don’t forget it!
• Unsalted butter – The butter must be at room temperature. Otherwise, it won’t cream properly with the sugars.
• Light brown sugar – This gives the cookies great flavor. It adds such a nice caramel-y flavor to the cookies.
• Granulated sugar – To aid the light brown sugar in tenderizing the cookies, without adding too much brown sugar.
• Egg & egg yolk – To bind the ingredients together, add moisture and add chewiness.
• Vanilla extract
• Mix-ins – White chocolate chips and dried cranberries give these cookies their name and add dots of color and flavor throughout the cookies.
• Milk

How to Make Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

The dough for these cookies comes together quickly and they bake in just a few minutes. However the dough needs to chill for several hours, so be sure to factor that into your timing. You can find the printable version of the instructions in the recipe card below.

• Prep the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Cream the butter and sugar. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and then mix in the vanilla extract.
• Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until the dough is just combined, taking care to not overmix.
• Add the milk. Mix in a teaspoon of milk on low until incorporated and use a spatula to finish mixing the dough. If needed, you can add the second teaspoon of milk but only if the dough still hasn’t come together.

• Add the mix-ins. Stir in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
• Chill. Form 2 tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours (overnight is okay) then let them sit out at room temperature for about an hour before baking.
• Bake. Bake the cookies for 8-9 minutes, removing just as the edges begin to turn golden. They should be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven.
• Cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 4-5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Use a spoon to gently push the sides in if they have spread too much.

Why Do I Need To Chill The Dough?

It might seem like a hassle, but this step is worth it, so don’t skip it. As the cookie dough sits, the moisture soaks into the flour and becomes more dispersed through the dry ingredients. This helps keep your cookies from over-spreading and makes them more moist, tender and chewy. Not not all cookies are made better by refrigeration, but these 100% are.

Tips for Perfectly Baked Cookies

• Use light-colored trays. Cookies bake a lot more evenly and will keep their soft and chewy center better if the baking tray is a light color.
• Use a silicone baking mat. Avoid throwing out endless sheets of parchment paper by using a silicone baking mat instead. The cookies also won’t stick!
• Don’t overbake. These white chocolate chip cranberry cookies are not ones you want to overbake as you’ll lose that delightful chewy texture. They should be just turning golden brown on the edges and look a little puffy in the center – they will deflate a bit out of the oven and continue cooking for a few minutes on the baking sheet.

Troubleshooting

Above are some great general cookie tips, but here are some things to consider if your cookies spread too much or not enough.

Why did my cookies spread too much?

• Warm cookie dough. Warm cookie dough spreads because the heat causes the butter to melt, making the dough more liquid and allowing it to spread as it bakes. Be sure to chill your dough (see my next point) and don’t leave it out for too long before baking.
• You didn’t refrigerate the cookie dough. When the cookie dough is refrigerated (it needs at least 2-3 hours), moisture is absorbed by the dry ingredients. If you skip this step, the moisture is still hanging out in there and ends up making your cookies spread too much.
• Too much milk. You want to add just enough milk to help bring the dough together. No more. Excess liquid in the dough will cause the cookies to spread too much.
• Not enough flour. If you don’t measure out enough flour, the wet ingredients won’t absorb into the dough as well, which can cause the cookies to spread too much.
• Too much sugar. Sugar adds moisture to the dough and moisture makes cookies spread more. So adding too much sugar can cause the cookies to spread too much.
• Too-big dough balls. Bigger balls spread more so aim for 2 tablespoons of dough per ball.
• Not enough mix-ins. The fewer white chocolate chips/nuts in a cookie, the more likely it is to spread more.

Why didn’t my cookies spread enough?

• Too much flour. The number one culprit here is over-measuring flour. Use a food scale for the most accurate measurement.
• Overly cold cookie dough. It’s important to let the cookie dough sit out for an hour before you bake it. Letting it come to room temperature allows the dough to relax a bit and spread more.
• Too many mix-ins. If a cookie has too many mix-ins, they may stay in a mound in the center of the cookie so it ends up not spreading as well.
• Not enough sugar. Sugar adds moisture, which adds to the cookies’ spread. If you don’t have enough sugar, the cookie won’t spread enough.
• Tiny dough balls. Smaller dough balls are likely to spread less. Try flattening them out a bit prior to baking, if needed.

Storing & Freezing

• Storing. Store fully cooled cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
• Freeze the cookie dough. Place the baking tray with the balls of dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. Transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Place them on the counter for 1 hour or so before baking, so they can thaw. You can bake from frozen, but you’ll need to add a couple more minutes of bake time and they won’t spread quite as much.
• Freeze the baked cookies. Place the cooled cookies on a baking sheet and freeze them for 1 hour. Transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or on the counter before eating.

More Easy Cookie Recipes

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Almond Crescent Cookies
• Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Salted Butterscotch Cookies
• Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies

Watch How To Make Them

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