Cranberry white-chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

Today was a busy, busy day.  I was in a buy-a-lot-of-ingredients-and-crafting-materials kind of mood.  Unfortunately for me, I was also in a don't-spend-a-lot of money mood, too.  That meant I went to three different grocery stores, two craft stores, and one home improvement store to find the best deal on everything I was looking for.  It was a long day to say the least.  (And thanks to the crazy Pittsburgh weather, it was a wind chill of 3 degrees, making a day full of shopping, very very cold!)  I do think I was pretty successful though! In fact, I found a great deal on white chips and decided today was a perfect day to make my 'famous' white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  This is a recipe I made up this year when making Christmas cookies after I couldn't find one that I was looking for, and it has become my family's new favorite! My Dad has been requesting these, and I figured now was a great time to make them! If you like oatmeal cookies and cranberries, you will LOVE this recipe! I promise!

Recipe Yields 4 and 1/2 dozen cookies; Weight Watchers Info: 2 PPV per cookie

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

2 and 3/4 cups oats, old fashioned

1 heaping cup dried cranberries

1 cup white chocolate chips cookies

Begin by pre-heating the oven to 350*, and lining several baking sheets with parchment paper.  Next, place the crisco, sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Beat with hand mixer on medium until crumbly.  It should look something like this.

Next, beat in the 2 eggs and vanilla until it forms a smooth batter.  It should look something like this.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the batter, and beat until smooth again making sure all dry ingredients are well incorporated.

Once the batter is smooth, fold in the oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips using a wooden spoon.  Do not over mix the oats.  

Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.  Someday I will invest in a cookie scoop, but if you are like me and don't have one, use your fingers to shape 1" balls.  Keep cookies a few inches apart from one another as they will spread.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.  Allow to fully cool on top of the baking sheets before storing.  I hope you enjoy them!!!