Published: 23 May 2022

These scrumptious oatmeal cookies are loaded with dried cranberries, toasted pecans and a decadent mixture of dark and milk chocolate chunks. Once you pop these in the oven, your home will be filled with the most delicious and cozy aroma of lemon zest and buttery cookie dough.

This recipe makes a batch of 24 to 32 chewy treats (depending on the amount of dough you use for each cookie). Any extras can easily be gifted in a cutely-wrapped mason jar (if you can resist eating them all!).

I have to give credit where credit is due. Thank you mom for graciously sharing this delicious recipe made with love! You have always been such an important inspiration and influence for everything I do (here and anywhere)! Mom’s fondness for cooking and baking started at a very young age. I still recall her telling me about the countless hours she spent as a child watching her grandmother cook traditional Moroccan food using herbs from her home garden. Still to this day, both my parents are an integral part of any food-related project I tackle and I am eternally grateful to them for their unconditional support.

Intergenerational transmission of food cultures is such a beautiful thing. Before social media and the internet, the kitchen was the main hub for sharing recipes and funny stories, all while snacking on food scraps and impatiently waiting for the main meal to be ready. Simple happiness during simpler times? Maybe in some regards. But I do believe that these warm and welcoming spaces are not that far-off. Sometimes they’re just hidden in plain sight.

Mom’s Oatmeal Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Meriem Chiadmi

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Course Dessert

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 ½ cups rolled oats
zest of a lemon
1/2 cup pecans
1/3 cup dried cranberries
60 g dark chocolate
50 g salted caramel milk chocolate (see notes)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Line a baking tray with a silicone mat and evenly spread the pecans. Toast them in the oven for 7 minutes. Then, turn off the oven and leave them in for another 5 minutes. Take them out and leave aside to cool down completely.
Turn the oven back on to 160°C (320°F).
In a big bowl, cream together the softened butter and the brown sugar.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, using a whisk until well combined.
Using a spoon, mix in the flour and baking soda.
Add oatmeal and lemon zest. Mix until combined.
Stir in the pecans (roughly chopped), dried cranberries and chocolate (roughly chopped).
Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough (roughly 2 inches apart) on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Flatten them a bit with the back of the spoon or wet fingers.
Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and lightly colored on top.