Disclosure: This recipe for Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Cookies are a quintessential holiday treat! Add a little variety to your annual Christmas cookie box with these soft baked Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies!
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When I think of a Christmas dessert, I will always think of cookies….
Family traditions of decorating colorful sugar cookies, cookie exchange parties packed with friends and filled with uncontrollable laughter and handing cookie trays to neighbors and getting a warm heartfelt smile in return.
Since cookies hold such a cherished place in our holiday celebrations, we have shared many favorite holiday cookies over the years.
From our indulgent Peppermint Chocolate Truffle Cookies, to these adorable Ornament Cookies and of course, classic Peanut Butter Blossoms, there is definitely no shortage of cookies around here! LOL!
Today’s cookie recipe for easy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, is another one of our favorite holiday desserts. This recipe is foolproof as it uses a secret ingredient, dry vanilla pudding mix, to achieve perfect soft baked cookies with just the slightest chew.
It’s a variation of our best ever M&M’s Cookies, however, we swap the M&M’s for plump, juicy dried cranberries and velvety white chocolate chips.
The end result? A Christmas cookie that is worthy of any holiday gathering!
Whether you are looking to surprise Santa with a new Christmas Eve treat, or simply want to roll up your sleeves and bake something sweet on a snowy December morning, these soft baked Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies are just the indulgence for you!
Helpful Tips and Information:
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookie Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Room Temperature Unsalted Butter: To achieve best results, start with soft, room temperature UNSALTED butter. Room temperature butter enables the butter to cream together easily with the sugars and provides an airy and fluffy base. Butter typically takes 30-60 minutes to soften at room temperature, however, see How to Soften Butter Quickly, for tips on speeding up the softening process. For the most consistent results, we also always use unsalted butter, as salted butter can contain between 600 and 900 mg of sodium, or about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt, per stick. This will cause salted butter to have 10 to 18% more water content than unsalted butter, which can yield unfavorable results.
- Room Temperature Eggs: Just like butter needs to be room temperature when baking, so do the eggs. When the eggs are room temperature they will incorporate into the batter more evenly.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated White Sugar: This recipe calls for more brown sugar than white granulated sugar. Using more brown sugar will give cookies a soft and chewy texture, as well as provide a richer tasting cookie.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: All of our recipes will call for pure vanilla extract, as opposed to imitation vanilla. While, pure vanilla will cost a little bit more, it has the most natural flavor.
- Vanilla Pudding Mix: Pudding mix is the secret ingredient for these cookies! Adding dry pudding mix to cookies will help them achieve a soft texture. We recommend using vanilla or white chocolate pudding mix for these cranberry cookies. You can also omit the pudding mix and add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to achieve a similar soft and tender cookie.
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour: Since bleached flour is treated with chemicals, we always use unbleached flour. For gluten free, we have had great success with using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. Simply replace the 2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour with 2 ¼ cups Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
- Dried Cranberries: Dried cranberries add not only flavor but add a nice chewy texture to these cookies. Do not use fresh cranberries in this recipe as they have too much moisture. For a twist, dried blueberries can be used.
- White Chocolate Chips: The dried cranberries pair incredibly well with the white chocolate, however, if you are not the biggest fan white chocolate fan feel free to use dark chocolate with great results.
Why put pudding mix in cookies?
Pudding mix is a blend of sugar, cornstarch, and flavoring. It is often added to cakes and cookies to help improve texture and add moisture, resulting in a soft cookie or tender cake.
CAN YOU FREEZE CHOCOLATE CHIP PUDDING COOKIES?
Yes, these cookies, freeze incredibly well! For all of our best tips and tricks, visit our complete tutorial on how to freeze cookie dough.
How to ship cookies:
We have shipped these cookies several times with great success! To ship cookies, and ensure the cookies arrive fresh and unbroken, we use our vacuum sealer and this how to ship cookies tutorial.
Tips for perfect cookies:
- Use a cookie scoop for even and uniform cookies.
- Measure flour correctly by using the spoon and sweep method.
- Always line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Use a light color baking sheet for even cooking.
- Cream your butter and sugar for a full 5 minutes. You are looking for the mixture to be smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Do not over bake! Cookies should be removed from oven just when they begin to turn light brown on the edges, but still look slightly under cooked in the center. They will finish setting up as they cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes.
IF YOU LIKED THESE Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies, THEN YOU WILL LOVE THESE OTHER COOKIE RECIPES:
Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Toffee Cookies – Shake up your cookie jar with these LOADED oatmeal cookies packed with dried cherries, chocolate chips and toffee bits.
White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars – These cookie bars are part cookie part granola bar and 100% delicious!
Toffee Apple Pie Cookies – Welcome fall with these apple pie cookies! Graham cracker crumbs, fresh apples, toffee bits and warm fall spices combine in the ultimate apple pie experience in cookie form!
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Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cookies are a quintessential holiday treat! Add a little variety to your annual Christmas cookie box with these soft baked Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla OR white chocolate pudding mix (dry)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars on medium speed, until light and fluffy, approximately 4-5 minutes.
- Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla extract and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, dry pudding mix, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture, a little at a time, to the butter mixture, mixing just until combined.
- Carefully, fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
- Using a standard size cookie scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. Press 4-5 additional chocolate chips and/or dried cranberries on top of each cookie, if desired.
- Bake cookies on the middle rack in a preheated 350-degree oven for 8 to 9 minutes, or until lightly browned and set in the middle. Do not over bake! Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies at room temperature in an air-tight container for 3-5 days.
Notes
*PLEASE SEE THE "HELPFUL TIPS AND INFORMATION" SECTION ABOVE FOR ADDITIONAL RECIPE NOTES.
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[…] Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies – These soft baked pudding cookies are packed with plump cranberries and creamy white chocolate chips. […]