Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

I saw this recipe years ago and have been meaning to try it, but never made an effort to pick up a bag of Crasins or white chocolate chips.  Until the other night, when I was having a dinner party and needed dried cranberries for a salad I was making.  I couldn't remember if I had any on hand, so I picked up a bag at the grocery.  Of course, when I got home, I discovered that I now had three bags of Crasins in the pantry!  Perfect timing!  When I did my weekly grocery run the following Tuesday, I made sure white chocolate chips were on my list and then fired up the oven for a morning of cookie baking!  These cookies are hearty and reminiscent of trail mix...you won't feel guilty having an extra!

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened 

2/3 cup brown sugar 

2 large eggs 

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats 

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour* 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

½ teaspoon salt 

1 6-ounce package Craisins 

2/3 cup white chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 375ºF. 

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. 

Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in sweetened dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. 

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. 

Makes approximately 2 ½ dozen cookies.

Recipe adapted from the back of a Crasins bag.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*The recipe calls for regular white all-purpose flour.  I used whole wheat flour, as I do in most of my cookies, for a heartier and slightly healthier version.  Whole wheat flour will cause a bit more drying in your cookies and will cause them to remain more rounded throughout the baking process.  You may like to press them down a bit before baking.  Obviously, feel free to stick to the standard white flour, too!