Double Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

By Rachel Conners @bakeritablog

These Double Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies feature a browned butter and nutmeg dough loaded with chocolate chunks & cranberries, both dried and fresh! The fresh cranberries add a tart bite to a chewy, richly flavored cookie. They’re the perfect addition to your holiday cookie platters!

Cranberries are a symbol of winter. The festive, cheery red color, the sweet sauce (hopefully homemade) that gets slathered all over your Thanksgiving dinner, and the piles of bags of cranberries that you see placed at the front of the produce section of the market, basking in their 15 minutes of fame, until Christmas passes and they’re replaced.

And this year, prepare for cranberry overload, because I’ve been having too much fun playing with cranberries in the kitchen! I’ve always adored the tart, sweet bite that cranberries add to any dessert, and I’ve always fondly remembered how much I loved these browned butter cranberry lime muffins that I made way back when Bakerita was only a few months old. The tartness of cranberries adds a flavor to dessert that I find absolutely enticing, and if you’ve never tried it, well…you’re in for a major treat.

The dough for these cookies is a favorite. We start with some browned butter (invite your friends over because your house will smell amazeeeee), make the cookies ultra chewy and caramel with tons of brown sugar, and make the whole thing extra special with just a hitn of ground nutmeg. The nutmeg is subtle, but there, and highly recommended. It adds an extra hint of holiday warmth and comfort, and pairs beautifully with the browned butter and the cranberries.

Now, we add double the cranberry. Fresh, bright cranberries as well as chewy, dried, sweet cranberries are added to the dough, along with chunks of dark chocolate. Fresh cranberries add a gorgeous shock of red color to any dish that they grace, and I love how that pop of color adds some lively festive cheer to these cookies.

If you’ve been around Bakerita a bit, you know I love to chop my own chocolate for cookies instead of using chocolate chips, but do what’s most convenient! If you’ve never tried chopped chocolate though, I highly recommend it. Chocolate chips use a wax to help them hold their shape, which inhibits their melty-ness. Using chopped chocolate, the chocolate in the cookies will stay soft and gooey, just the way I like it!

These cookies disappeared off the plate in record time, and were a major house favorite. The cranberries make for an unexpected, but most definitely welcome addition to the cookie party. These Double Cranberry Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies are perfect to make an appearance on your cookie platter this holiday season, or simply to share with family and friends and bask in a little holiday love. Enjoy!

Print Double Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter (4 oz.), browned and cooled to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup white sugar (2 oz.)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (7.5 oz)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (8 oz.)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6 oz. dark chocolate (cut into 1/2 inch chunks)
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup fresh cranberries
  • 1/2 teaspoon good quality salt, for sprinkling on top before baking

Instructions

  1. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat, stirring nearly continuously. Butter will melt, then begin to foam. It will then begin to turn golden brown and smell nutty. As soon at the butter begins to turn brown, take the pan off the heat, and continue to stir for about 1 minute, to ensure carryover heat doesn't continue to cook and subsequently burn the already browned butter. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the butter is mostly solidified but still soft.
  2. Add the butter to a large mixing bowl. Add the sugars, and cream the butter and the sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes on medium high. Scrape down the side of the bowl.
  3. Continue mixing and add the egg. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, baked soda, nutmeg, and salt in another bowl with a whisk to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula, fold in the dark chocolate, dried cranberries, and fresh cranberries. Refrigerate dough for at least one hour 1 hour, or up to 5 days.
  4. Use a medium-sized cookie scoop to form cookies. Bake at 350ºF for 11 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.
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