Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Modified: Mar 3, 2025 · Published: Sep 14, 2020 by Irina Totterman · This post may contain affiliate links · 46 Comments

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Here are the best oatmeal craisin cookies made with old-fashioned oats, whole wheat flour, and tangy craisins (dried cranberries). What's more? These no-chill cookies are the ultimate Christmas cookies, ready within an hour.

Halved oatmeal craisin cookie with other cookies in the background

If you are looking for traditional holiday cookies, please do not look any further. Try this ultimate Christmas cookie recipe for oatmeal craisin cookies, adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, to add some magic to your holiday season.

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Oatmeal craisin cookie recipe
Ingredients
How to make oatmeal craisin cookies
Expert Tips
Recipe variations
Storing and freezing
Recipe FAQ
Love cookie recipes? Try these next!
Recipe card
Comments

These chewy oatmeal craisin cookies are a beautiful twist on classic oatmeal raisin cookies.

These are so good: no trans fats from margarine or vegetable shortening. Cookies are made with a blend of whole wheat flour and oats for added nutrients.

Despite the cookies being made with refined sugars, you will be surprised that they aren't oversweet. They are chewy inside with crisp edges outside.

This one-bowl cookie recipe is easy and quick: there is no need to chill the cookie dough; you can whip up about 30 cookies in just an hour.

Craisin cookies are a treasure during the holidays. They are perfect as an edible gift and a great addition to a cookie box or a holiday cookie tray.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Almonds bring a wonderful nutty flavor to cookies. Use whole almonds with skin on and roast them yourself, or use store-bought roasted almonds.

Flour: Use all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour (in the US) or wholemeal flour (in the UK and Europe). You can also try to use light-in-color white whole wheat flour.

Old-fashioned oats are the best oats to make the recipe. Avoid steel-cut oats and quick oats (aka instant oats) since they will not give the right chewy texture to the baked cookies.

Salt: A pinch of salt elevates the taste of cookies.

Butter: The recipe calls for unsalted butter softened at room temperature. Avoid using melted butter as a substitute, but you can use brown butter in its solid form as a 1:1 ratio.

Sugar: Use white sugar (granulated or caster sugar) or replace it with golden or dark brown sugar.

Orange zest: Choose an organic, untreated orange to make fresh orange zest. Use a Microplane to avoid adding the bitter pith to the recipe.

Craisins: Use sweetened dried cranberries such as Craisins®or unsweetened dried cranberries if you watch your sugar intake. Replace dried cranberries (not fresh cranberries) with raisins, dried cherries, or even dried apricots.

Orange juice: Make it yourself with a citrus squeezer or use store-bought orange juice.

White chocolate: Use Lindt classic white chocolate or Callebaut white chocolate callets.

How to make oatmeal craisin cookies

Step 1. To roast almonds, heat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Place whole nuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.

Step 2. Remove almonds from the oven and let cool. Then chop roasted nuts coarsely and set aside.

Step 3. Increase the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C). Prepare two baking sheets covered with parchment paper.

Step 4. To make the cookie batter, soak dried cranberries in orange juice for 10-15 minutes.

Step 5. In a separate large bowl, combine oats, chopped almonds, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt, and set aside.

Step 6. Place softened butter, sugar, and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (photo 1).

Step 7. Cream butter mixture on medium speed for about two minutes (photo 2). If needed, scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

Step 8. Add the flour mixture to the butter preparation and mix on a low speed just to combine (photo 3).

Step 9. Add the drained cranberries and mix for a few seconds (don't overmix!) (photo 4).

Cookie dough mixture in the bowl of a stand mixer

PHOTO 3

Cookie dough in the bowl of a stand mixer

PHOTO 4

Step 10. Transfer the cookie dough to the floured surface of a table and make a ball with your hands. Add some flour to facilitate the work with the dough.

Step 11. Take half of the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin to reach the thickness of ⅕ inches (0.5 cm).

Step 12. Cut the dough into rounds using a round cookie cutter of 2.5 inches (7 cm) in diameter (photo 5).

Step 13. Arrange cut-out cookies on the prepared baking sheets (photo 6) and bake for 18 minutes until golden brown. Finish the remaining dough in the same way.

PHOTO 5

PHOTO 6

Step 14. Remove ready cookies from the oven (photo 7) and let them cool on a wire rack.

Step 15. To decorate cookies, melt white chocolate in a double boiler or a microwave.

Step 16. Pour one tablespoon of melted chocolate on top of each cookie and spread with the back of a spoon (photo 8).

PHOTO 7

Cookies with white chocolate on parchment

PHOTO 8

Step 17. Leave cookies for about one hour at room temperature for the chocolate to set.

Halved craisin oatmeal cookies on a stone board

Expert Tips

Beat butter, sugar, and orange zest with an electric mixer, and then mix the dough in a bowl using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon if you do not have a stand mixer.
Don't over-mix. When adding dry ingredients and soaked cranberries, mix gently until just mixed.
Skip the rolling if desired. Just scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop and place the cookie dough balls on ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment.
Let chocolate thicken a bit if you prefer to cover cookies with a thick layer of chocolate.
Allow the chocolate to set for at least one hour before packing cookies.

Recipe variations

Replace orange zest and orange juice with lemon flavor (lemon zest and lemon juice). If desired, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Swap craisins (dried cranberries) for other dried fruit: cherries, blueberries, or apricots. Or replace half of the cranberries with white or dark chocolate chips or small chocolate chunks. If you are a fan of raisins, make traditional oatmeal raisin cookies.

Replace almonds with other nuts, such as hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans, and sunflower seeds, or add a little bit of flax seed.

Use unsweetened dried cranberries and omit the white chocolate decoration on top if you watch for sugar intake. But try not to decrease the amount of sugar since it provides sweetness and texture to baked goods.

Play with the cookie shape. They are created of round shapes but try other uncomplicated cookie cutters.

Storing and freezing

Store oatmeal craisin cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Can you freeze craisin oatmeal cookies? You can freeze the entire batch of cookies but without chocolate topping. Place them in an airtight container or a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.

Freezing will probably be the best option to preserve your treats if you make a double batch of cookies.

Recipe FAQ

What is whole wheat flour?

Whole wheat flour is made by grinding the entire grain of hard white spring wheat and contains the bran and germ.

Can you use different flour?

The combination of all-purpose and whole wheat flour works best for this recipe, but you can try to increase the amount of whole wheat if desired.

Can you make the cookies gluten-free?

You can make gluten-free cookies using gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats and a gluten-free flour blend.

Can you use quick oats in place of old-fashioned oats?

Substituting quick oats for old fashioned oats is not recommended. The cookies will lose their perfect texture and nutrient content.

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/. It was originally published on December 02, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos.

About Irina Totterman

I'm Irina, an experienced home baker with over 30 years of expertise and the blogger behind Baking Like a Chef (since 2018), where I share baking recipes, tips, and tricks. My recipes have been featured in the renowned French Chef Simon and Le Journal des Femmes.