Lemon Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Or in short... this cookie has a lot going on. hahah. But each ingredient seems to enhance the other, as opposed to just muddying the whole taste.

I seem to crave certain things on dreary-rainy days... things with spice, a certain density and a bit of warmth. I dare you to put a sunny salad in front of me on these days. You would get a look. Forget it! I really shouldn't be so rigid... maybe my opinion would change with the right combination of ingredients and persuasion. In the interim, I turned to these cookies to add a reasonable amount of comfort to my day.

I am not without sunshine on these days though. The lemon and cranberry definitely brighten the nutty oatmeal base. Without these additions, I think this cookie would be much more dreary-snowy than dreary-rainy and that isn't the goal either.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks butter (1 stick = 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Juice and zest of one lemon

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg (or four gratings, if you have fresh)
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. A good cookie always seems to start with a good creamed butter base, so give it some time and care. Add in your vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice.

In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt). Combine the dry ingredients with the creamed butter mixture.

Roughly chop your pecans and cranberries. Then add these to the cookie base.

I thought I'd try letting the dough rest overnight and give the diverse ingredients a chance to mingle and meld. So, I made the dough, then put it in the fridge for baking the next morning.

Heat your oven to 350F. Spoon your batter by teaspoonful or tablespoonful on to a greased baking sheet. Bake roughly ~12 minutes for teaspoon-size or ~16 minutes for tablespoon-size. I always check the cookies about two minutes before they are "supposed" to be done. Better to check early than late! Remove the cookies from the oven and let sit on the tray for a few minutes to set, then transfer each to a wire rack to cool completely.

This recipe made about 48 teaspoon-sized cookies, which seemed to be about the right amount for six office-mates (and a few friends who received cookie care packages) on a rainy day.