I decided I needed to bake today, because I haven’t done much baking these past few months, even over the holidays. On Twitter, someone suggested I bake oatmeal cookies w/cranberries and lemon zest added. I took this idea a few steps farther. I couldn’t find a recipe, so I adapted an oatmeal raisin recipe and made it my own. They smelled amazing while baking and turned out ridiculously delicious. I didn’t expect them to taste so good, but man, these are going in my regular cookie rotation!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In stand mixer (or using hand mixer), cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon extract.*

Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into the butter mixture.

Stir in the oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 4 dozen

*You could also make these cranberry orange cookies and substitute orange zest and orange extract for the lemon.

I used lemon zest and lemon oil from King Arthur flour. I highly recommend their products, but you could use fresh lemon zest, and lemon extract purchased at your local store. Also, if you use the lemon oil from KA, theoretically you could use a bit more and use no lemon zest (on the KA website, it says it’s meant to be a substitute for zest). Hey, if you bought the set of oils, you’d have orange as well, and you could try these as cranberry orange instead!