This is kind of an uncharacteristically healthy cookie for me. (If you know me, you know it’s not often that I start tossing flax seeds and oats into my baked goods.) The recipe is my version of a super-yummy cookie that Whole Foods sells. They’re a real treat, but at almost $7 for a handful of cookies, I wanted to see if I could noodle out a similar recipe at home, based on one of my oatmeal cookie doughs. These come pretty close—and cost a lot less!

They’re chewy, and studded with a generous amount of sweetened, dried cranberries. (Yep, those are Craisins.)

Sweetened, dried cranberries

They’re fragrant with almonds from a generous amount of almond extract and a cup of sliced nuts. With such a strong marzipan-y flavor, I’ll take these over a granola bar anytime I’m craving an energy-packed snack. (A healthier snack that doesn’t taste like it? Yes, please!)

Sliced almonds

A handful of flax and sunflower seeds add some texture and nice crunch. For the sunflower seeds, be sure to get unsalted sunflower seeds (not the dry roasted kind).

Unsalted sunflower seeds

Flax seeds are fabulous for you. They’re packed with Omega-3s and protein. Most of the larger U.S. grocery stores carry the glossy little seeds these days. Whole Foods will definitely have ‘em if you’re having trouble finding them in your neck of the woods.

Flax seeds

The trick to keeping these cookies nice and chewy is to undercook them ever-so-slightly. This means yanking them out of the oven when they look firm and are *just* starting to brown on the edges. (If you bake them ’til they’re very brown on top, they’ll be crispy—not chewy—when they cool.)

Take a peek at the pictures towards the end of this post, so you know just what you’re looking for.

Exciting stuff at The Hungry Mouse!

A quick update for you before we head to the ovens.

As some of you know, The Angry Chef and I have been in the process of relocating to Salem, Massachusetts—a fabulous—town about 20 minutes north of Boston.

It’s rich in history, and is home to a thriving community of artists, cooks and foodies, and other wonderful folks. We’re looking forward to showing you around the area in the coming months.

So! With the move pretty much done, we’re gearing up to celebrate our first anniversary (!!!) next month. We have a handful of over-the-top giveaways and contests planned—plus a very exciting and special announcement! Stay tuned!

Alrighty. To the kitchen!

Cranberry Almond Trail Mix Cookies

8 Tbls. butter (that’s 1 stick or 1/2 cup)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

2/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups dried, sweetened cranberries

1 cup sliced almonds

2 Tbls. flax seeds

2 Tbls. unsalted sunflower seeds

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set them aside.

Make the cookie dough base

Toss the brown sugar and butter in the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl if using an electric mixer or making the dough by hand).

Beat together until well combined. Crack in the egg.

Beat for a minute or two until well combined. You want the mixture to get lighter in color and look fluffy, like this:

Toss in the flour, baking soda, and a pinch of salt.

Beat until the mixture just comes together and is uniform. It will be very thick and rough looking.

Pour in the vanilla extract and the almond extract.

Beat to combine. The dough will still be very thick, but will smooth out a little from the liquid.

Add all the goodies to the cookie dough

Toss in the oats.

And the dried cranberries.

Add the sliced almonds, flax seeds, and sunflower seeds.

Beat together to combine all the ingredients. The dough will be very thick, and almost kind of dry. It should look like there’s more stuff in your bowl than actual cookie dough. That’s just fine.

Make and bake the cookies

Scoop out a blob of dough with a large soup spoon. You’re aiming for about the size of a golf ball. The dough should feel kind of loose in your hands. Roll it between your palms to smoosh the air out of it.

Put the ball on one of your prepared sheet pans. Repeat until you have a dozen on each sheet pan.

Line up the dough balls so they’re evenly spaced out.

Now, because there’s more stuff than dough to these cookies, they won’t spread much when baked. So, use your hand to smoosh the balls flat, like this:

Pop the pans into your preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until they look firm and are just starting to brown on the edges. If you like, peek under one (carefully…like most hot cookies, they can be crumbly ’til cool). It should be lightly browned on the bottom, like this:

Yank the pans out of the oven when they’re done. Cool for 10 minutes on the pans, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!

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I think the weather’s finally officially turned colder here in Boston. Let the baking begin!

These hearty cookies are really buttery and somewhere in between chewy and crisp. They’re speckled with oatmeal and studded with walnut chunks and chocolate chips. A touch of molasses turns them a rich brown and gives them an almost toffee-like flavor.

If you wanted, you could substitute raisins—or pecans or sliced almonds—for the chocolate chips. I like these with a cold glass of milk or a mug of warm, spiced apple cider.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies: Make ice cream sandwiches, of course!

Make ice cream sandwiches, of course! Let some vanilla ice cream soften up a little. Flip a cookie over and drop a generous scoop onto it. Top it with another cookie, and smoosh it down carefully (so you don’t break it) to spread out the ice cream.

Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and pop it back in the freezer until the ice cream firms up.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies: A note on technique

I use my stand mixer to make these, just because it helps me put together the dough in no time flat. If you don’t have one, you can totally use a hand-held mixer, or do it the old-fashioned way, with a wooden spoon and a little elbow grease.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies

8 Tbls. butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
6 Tbls. molasses
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbls. Frangelico

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies: Mix up the cookie dough

Put the butter in your mixing bowl.

Add the sugar.

Crack in the eggs.

Add the molasses.

Fit your mixer with a paddle beater and turn it on low to combine the ingredients. Gradually increase the speed and beat on medium-high until well combined and kind of fluffy.

Toss in the flour, baking soda, and kosher salt.

Beat on low for maybe 30 seconds to combine the dry ingredients with the wet. Your dough should look about like this:

Add the oats and beat on medium to combine.

Your dough should look about like this:

Toss in the walnuts and the chocolate chips.

Add the Frangelico and mix on medium speed to combine well.

Your dough should look about like this:

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chips Cookies: Drop your cookies, bake, and enjoy

Drop by the rounded teaspoonful onto your prepared pan.

Each pan should have 12 cookies on it. (3 rows of 4 cookies.) No need to smoosh the dough down. Your cookies will flatten out as they bake.

Slide your pans into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.

After about 3 minutes in the oven, they should start to flatten out and look about like this:

After 5 minutes in the oven, they should be relatively flat, but not completely cooked, like this:

Pull them out when they’re brown and slightly crisp on the edges. Let them rest for a minute or two on the sheet pan, then use a thin spatula to transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool.

Repeat these steps with the rest of your cookie dough ’til you’ve used it all up.

Serve and enjoy!

***
Copyright 2008 The Hungry Mouse™/Jessica B. Konopa. All rights reserved.

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