The traditional oatmeal cookie gets a festive makeover with these Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies!
I decided to give my favourite oatmeal cookie a festive makeover for the holiday season. Are you as excited as I am?! The original oatmeal chocolate chip cookie is one of my all-time favourites, but I like to take that recipe and change it up with different combinations of ingredients. It’s super easy to modify and customize with your favourite nuts, chocolate, dried fruits, or a mix of all of them.
I’m not a huge fan of dried fruits – especially the dreaded raisin, so you’ll likely never see one of those in a recipe over here. Cranberries are different. They have a unique and yummy flavour, and I can get past the texture. Raisins? Not so much. You could totally make these with raisins instead though, if they’re your kinda thing.
I wanted a seasonal fruit and nut combo with these cookies, so decided to go with pecans, which I love. In hindsight, I probably should have added more of them, as the nuts got a bit lost in the oatmeal/cinnamon/cranberry flavour, so you may want to increase the amount of nuts in the recipe or toast them beforehand.
If you like thick, chewy, delicious oatmeal cookies, then this recipe is for you! If you prefer your cookies to be less puffy, just press down on the tops a bit before putting them into the oven.
These Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies will be my last holiday themed cookie for the year. Sad times, right? Fear not, as there are a few more holiday recipes on the way, and plenty of cookies on my radar for the new year!
Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes).
- Add egg and beat on high for 1 minute. Add vanilla.
- Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture, mix until combined.
- Add oats, cranberries, and pecans. Mix until just combined.
- Chill dough in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat.
- Using a small cookie scoop, place cookies on baking sheet 2" apart. I did 11 cookies per sheet. Press cookies down slightly if desired (I didn't).
- Bake for 10mins or until edges are lightly browned but center is still soft and unset.
- Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
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Catherine says
Delicious even in the middle of summer! I added coconut in the mixture and it went well with the cranberries. Will keep on my list of favourite cookies for Xmas !
Also, I rolled the mixture in parchment paper , cooled in the fridge , then sliced evenly for baking.
Thanks for sharing this one with us !
Olivia says
Hi Catherine! Yum, I’ll have to try them with coconut — great addition! Good to know the slice and bake worked well!
Cyndi says
Hi Olivia…if I double this recipe do I double the ingredients in the same amount? I love this recipe…the cookies are amazing. Thank you.
Olivia says
Hi Cyndi! Yes, double all of the amounts. For ease, you can change the Servings to be twice as much and it will update all the numbers.
Adrijana Pesic says
Wow, my first time ever baking anything in my life and cookies came out amazing! Thank you so much for this amazing recipe i love it! I only added and spoon of honey as i love honey.
Thank you once again.
Olivia says
Hi Adrijana! I’m so happy you loved these. Thank you for the feedback!
Pamela Louallen says
I made the oatmeal, cranberry, pecan cookies, these are the best cookies I have ever ate. I doubled the recipe and added a extra 3/4 cup of brown sugar. I made thick balls and gently mashed them on the cookie sheet and I only cooked them for 10mins. They were chewy in the middle and had that slight crisp edges. These are the BEST cookie I have Ever ate. I will always use this cookie recipe and add different ingredients. Thank u so much for sharing this recipe ❤
Olivia says
Hi Pamela! So happy to head you liked these! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
Victoria Auldridge says
Made the almond cake with raspberry Swiss buttercream . It turned out picture perfect. Got lots of rave comments. Everyone loved it. Had two miss steps I hope you can help me with. First had problems in transferring the finished cake from the turning stand to the cake plate. Second buttercream was still cold when I served it. How long should the cake sit out before l serve a buttercream cake.
Lov your cakes
Olivia says
Hi Victoria! So happy everyone loved it 🙂 For transferring — it’s always tricky. Do you use a cake board under your cakes? That will help make it more sturdy. I also chill the cake before transferring and use a cake lifter to lift the cake up and move it. It takes some practice and is stressful any time I do it! The cake will take about 2-3 hours or so to come to room temp. You can speed this up by cutting slices and placing them on plates. I hope that helps!
Sue says
Sounds delicious!! Will make soon. Can you add ginger? If so how much in your opinion? Need to add for health reasons. Tks!!
Olivia says
Hi Sue! For sure, I think that would be delicious. What kind of ginger? I would try it with 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger, or maybe 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. It’s more to taste — however much you like.
Robbie says
I’m an otherwise decent cook except for baking. But these turned out perfect and I think they’re the most delicious cookies I’ve ever eaten. IDK how I’ll ever eat another store bought cookies again. Thanks for the recipe and good instructions.
Olivia says
Hi Robbie! I’m so happy to hear that! So glad you loved them 🙂
m says
Pretty awesome. I do love the cranberry – pecan duo. and who doesn’t love a good oatmeal cookie, right??? Hey, great pics, too! Well done. Love them.
Olivia says
Thanks so much!!
Tammy says
Have you ever made these with fresh cranberries? I have so many left in the freezer that I want to use.
Olivia says
Hi Tammy! I haven’t and I’m not sure they’d work as well due to the extra liquid in the fresh ones.
Lori Johnson says
Baked these as a last minute cookie to use all the dried cranberries I did NOT use as planned….fantastic recipe!! Love these cookies. Very easy to make, not a messy dough, not too sweet, and with the cinnamon, yum!
Glad I found this keeper.
Olivia says
Hi Lori! Thanks for the feedback, I’m so glad you liked these!
Carol says
Hi Olivia!
Is this cookie chewy or crunchy? My preference is chewy. Looking forward to your timely response.
Thanks, Carol
Olivia says
Hi Carol! These are chewy cookies.
RK says
Cookies didn’t drop at all – just stayed in a ball shape….. ideas? I did use egg replacement (v egg) due to my son’s allergy, but this hasn’t been a problem in other recipes….
Olivia says
Hi RK! How much of the egg replacement did you use? It sounds like the dough was too thick, so it could either be due to that or too much flour.
mona says
Awesome cookie! I added white cholocate chips, they are really really good. Next time I will add less sugar if I use white chocolate chips.
I will be making these again, you can change it up with any dried fruit, nut, chocolate or not…………….
Olivia says
Hi Mona! Love the addition of white chocolate chips, good call! So glad you liked it 🙂
Juju says
Hey! Olivia
I live in Thailand. It’s really not easy to find good and fresh pecan! Do you have any suggestion for substitution?
Thank you so much. I love dried cranberries. Can’t wait to finish the recipe.
Olivia says
Hi Juju! Any other nut would work just fine. Do you have easy access to walnuts or almonds?
Juju says
Hi !
Thank you for your suggestion. Not sure with walnuts but I think I can buy almonds from malls or imported shops here. Almonds would be perfect 🙂
Stacey leinen says
Raisins??? Yuck trying recipe for first time. Dough taste amazing can’t wait for finished product!!
Olivia says
Yay! I hope you like it 🙂
bessie says
These are absolutely amazing, I made them today, great flavor, not too sweet, and I love the crunch from the pecans. I did add a 1/2 cup of pecans but I just broke the pieces up by hand rather than use a food processor and I didn’t notice the nuts were lost in the cookies, just perfect! I came across your blog via Huffington Post’s 25 bundt cake recipes you cannot miss, I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Olivia says
Hi Bessie! Thanks so much for your feedback, I’m so glad you liked these cookies! 🙂
Peggy says
In the oatmeal cookies is it 3/4 cup of flour or 3 to 4 cups flour? Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Peggy! It’s 3/4cup.
Rebecca says
Can I use substitute quick oats in this recipe?
Olivia says
Hi Rebecca! Quick oats will give the cookies a different texture and they likely would bake up a bit flatter. Ideally you’d use rolled (old fashioned oats), but you could try with quick if that’s all that you have!
Debbie S says
Is the oatmeal “old fashioned” oats?
This recipe looks great! My husband can’t eat much chocolate because of headaches and this cookie looks like it will be a hit!
Happy Holidays!
Olivia says
Hi Debbie! Yes, rolled oats are the same as old fashioned :). Let me know how you two like these cookies!
Elizabeth @ SugarHero.com says
I’m totally with you–raisins have no place in cookies! Cranberries, however, are always welcome. And they always feel so festive to me! I love your take on the traditional oatmeal cookie–I’ll take a dozen, please!
Olivia says
Yesss! Glad to have you on my team, haha. Thanks so much Elizabeth!
Kelley parker says
Can I substitute coconut oil for the butter?
Olivia says
I haven’t done so, but you could give it a try!