Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft, chewy, and incredibly delicious! These cookies are decadent enough for special occasions and holidays, as well as cookie exchanges. The combination of rich chocolate and sweet cranberries just can’t be beat!
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Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies are a slight twist on the classic White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies that are especially popular during the holidays.
Soft-baked cookies are filled with rich chocolate chips and dried cranberries in every bite. They are equally as delicious and a perfect addition to your holiday dessert table.
Why This Recipe Works
Loaded with rich, chocolate chips and sweet dried cranberries, this is definitely a cookie recipe that will satisfy both chocolate lovers and those who like their cookies soft baked. Each bite is soft, chewy, and bursting with flavor. They are pretty much everything a cookie should be.
It’s a versatile recipe. Any type of chocolate chip will work great in this recipe or you can swap out or omit the dried cranberries.
The best part of this whole recipe though is that these cookies stay soft. Even a few days later, they will still be perfectly soft and chewy. They are the best cookies for bringing to a holiday cookie exchange or for Christmas parties and other holiday gatherings.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature): 1 cup of butter is equal to 2 sticks of butter.
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
The full recipe and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Prep!
Set your butter and egg out to come to room temperature about an hour before you begin baking.
Because this recipe does require chilling the dough, you won’t preheat your oven until a bit later.
Create!
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and mix until thoroughly blended.
Beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar together on medium-high speed with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle.
Add the egg, then the vanilla extract.
Lower the speed and add the flour mixture gradually until thoroughly incorporated. The batter will be very thick.
Mix in the dried cranberries and chocolate chips by hand with a spatula.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least an hour, or you can leave it in the refrigerator unbaked for up to 3 days.
When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes so that it’s a bit easier to work with.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a Silpat– or parchment paper-lined baking sheet 2-inches apart, then flatten each ball of dough slightly. Press extra chips and cranberries into the tops, if desired.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just golden brown.
Present!
Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks. Cookies will be very soft when hot, so allowing them to cool before removing them is essential to prevent breaking. They will firm up as they cool.
Tips and Techniques
- Set the butter and egg out to come to room temperature an hour or so before you are ready to prepare the dough.
- Push extra cranberries and chocolate chips into the dough balls right before baking to better show off what’s inside the cookies.
- For the best results, do not skip chilling the dough.
- Use Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheets to prevent the cookies from sticking.
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container. Consume within 5-7 days or best results.
How to Store Cookie Dough
- Prepared cookie dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.
- You can freeze the dough whole, or pre-roll it into 1-inch balls before freezing.
- To bake pre-rolled balls from frozen, add 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.
- Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator overnight, then let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling into 1-inch balls to bake.
More Holiday Cookie Recipes
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If you try this recipe, I would really appreciate it if you would please leave a comment and star rating. Thanks!
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
- 1 egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and mix until thoroughly blended.2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar together on medium-high speed with an electric mixer fitted with a paddle.1 cup unsalted butter, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Add the egg, then the vanilla extract.1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Lower the speed and add the flour mixture gradually until thoroughly incorporated. The batter will be very thick.
- Mix in the dried cranberries and chocolate chips by hand with a spatula.1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Chill for at least an hour, or up to 3 days
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.
- Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet 2-inches apart.
- Flatten each ball of dough slightly. You can add more cranberries and chips to the tops, if desired.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the bottoms are just golden brown.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks.
Notes
Tips and Techniques
- Set the butter and egg out to come to room temperature an hour or so before you are ready to prepare the dough.
- Push extra cranberries and chocolate chips into the dough balls right before baking to better show off what’s inside the cookies.
- For the best results, do not skip chilling the dough.
- Use Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheets to prevent the cookies from sticking.
- Store baked cookies in an airtight container. Consume within 5-7 days or best results.
Bilyana says
When do you put the egg? The recepée really looks nice
Lauren Vavala says
Thanks so much for letting me know that I left that part out, I really appreciate it. I just updated the recipe and the post. You add the egg and vanilla after the butter and sugars.
– Lauren
Bilyana says
Thank you Lauren!
We made them- they are sooo delicious!
Lauren Vavala says
Awesome! I’m glad you liked them! Please feel free to leave a star rating next time – it would help me a lot to get my recipes shown to more people 🙂
– Lauren
Jenna says
The combo of dark chocolate with cranberry is so underrated! Making these for a cookie swap!
Ellen says
I love the sweet – tart of the dark chocolate and cranberries in these cookies.
Jill says
Well these look absolutely amazing. I’d much prefer dark chocolate with cranberry than white. Gonna try this recipe!
Tisha says
Delicious soft cookies! I need some right away!
Andrea Metlika says
These are so delectable! I want to make them right now. chocolate and cranberry go so well together.