Oatmeal Almond Mistletoe Cookies

These festive cookies, filled with hearty oatmeal, cranberries, almond butter, chocolate, and a hint of cinnamon, melt in your mouth. They are super easy to prepare, filled with healthful ingredients, and leave you craving more!

The smooth almond butter and cinnamon provide the cookie with irresistible goodness. The oats and chocolate complement the cookie with a wonderfully crunchy texture. Lastly, the dried cranberries challenge the sweetness by adding a tangy bite to the cookies. An absolutely divine combination!

Here is how I stumbled upon the recipe: Over my winter break from college, I decided to bake extra special holiday cookies for my friends. I was originally planning to do some sort of peanut butter oatmeal goodness. However, I ran into a dilemma when I realized that one of my friends was allergic to peanuts. I searched my pantry high and low for other ingredients that could make this cookie special. First I grabbed the chocolate chips…an automatic necessity for any great cookie, in my book.

Next, I picked up a bag of dried cranberries — they seemed like a festive and exciting alternative to raisins.

Finally, I saw the half empty jar of almond butter. My mother had recently started buying this wonderful spread, and I had been eating it on everything. Since my friend wasn’t allergic to almonds, I thought, why not try this out? I had no idea that this ingredient would revolutionize my cookies and take them to the next level!

(Trader Joe's RAW CREAMY Unsalted Almond Butter)

The cookies were an instant hit! They came out crunchy on the outsides and nice and soft on the insides, full of rich almond flavor, chocolate, and tangy cranberries. Now, they are family favorite and have become one of my signature holiday recipes.

Here’s how to make them:

What I was listening to: Holiday Music!

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup(s) of butter
• 1/3 cup(s) of almond butter
• 3/4 cup(s) of firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup(s) of white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. of vanilla
• 1 cup(s) of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. of baking soda
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. of salt (optional)
• 3 cup(s) of quick or old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup(s) of dried cranberries
• 1 cup(s) of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine butter, almond butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until butters and sugars are combined.

One at a time, add the eggs and then the vanilla, while slowly mixing.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients gradually while mixing.

Mix in oats, dried cranberries, and chocolate chips. The batter will be pretty thick.

Using a tablespoon, drop rounds of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. I like to make sure each cookie has a nice amount of chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown on the edges.

Let them cool completely on a wire rack, and then dig in!

Store these in a tightly sealed box. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies.

P.S. I am entering these in the Smart Balance Christmas Cookie Bake-Off.  Wish me luck!!

Pictures courtesy of Elena Czubiak and Arya Shirazi.

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