Last night I was thumbing through my favorite dessert cookbook, The Sweeter Side of Amy’s Bread, trying to find a recipe to use the ingredients I had on hand. The White Chocolate Cherry Chunkers sounded pretty good, with oats and white chocolate chips, but it called for dried tart cherries and all I had were those Craisins (dried cranberries). Still, I figured I could make it work. I added a little bit extra of the cranberries and boosted the white chocolate measure too.
A funny thing about the recipes in this book is that the cookies are all gigantic. They did that to match the way the cookies are sold in the bakery itself. Eat one of those massive cookies and you’re done. For home baking, it’s not always so practical, so I made them about half the specified size and baked them for a few minutes less than called for. I love how they turned out. The oats add great texture, and the white chocolate-fruit combination is a real treat. The only bad thing, if you can call it that, is that these are really good while still warm, so you almost can’t stop eating them straight from the oven.
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I'm Justin Schwartz, a cookbook guy and occasional food writer, and this blog is about what I'm up to these days. I'm the author of Veg Out Vegetarian Guide to New York City and The Marshmallow Fluff Cookbook. You can email me at justin at justinschwartz.com. I'm also on Instagram.
A lot of the books I write about are ones I've edited, so my opinions are very biased. And if I didn't work on the book, someone probably gave it to me for free. So keep that in mind before you take my word for it. Sometimes I just like to give a shout-out to my friends. And oh yeah, my opinions have nothing to do with my employer...
They look fantastic… with white chcolate and cranberry…btw, why are they called "chunkers"? I thought they look like "snaps"?
I made a similar cookie last summer (using a diff recipe), but I used white choc chunks instead which I chopped from a European white choc bar and I added almond extract (which goes really well with craisins). Glad you enjoyed these.
White chocolate and cranberries must stike a perfect balance between sweet and tart. They look amazing! And I know how hard it is to resist cookies fresh from the oven.
They look delicious, Justin. I'm going to take a look at the book next time I'm at the library. I really like the adaptive changes you made to the recipe.
Love the combination of oats, white chocolate, and cranberries. These cookies look very dangerous, Justin. I am positive I won't be able to wait until they cool down before I gobble up the whole batch.
angie: hmm, they're definitely not snaps. they're more soft and chunky. thanks for visiting.hanaa: the almond extra would probably be interesting. nice tip.valerina: yes, it's a very good balancemary: please do — i think you'll like itleela: i know… thanks for visiting.
I could use one of those cookies for breakfast… or maybe two. I'll have to check out The Sweeter Side of Amy's Bread. All I recall is their yummy paninis at Chelsea Market.
your right, smaller cookies for home is the way to go. I wonder how they'd be with a little coconut added in there…mmm
White chocolate and cranberries are my favorite add-ins for oatmeal cookies. Sometimes I even drizzle melted white chocolate on top too!
Hey Justin. Love white chocolate in my cookies but never thought to try it with cranberries. Great idea doing that substitution, cranberries are so nice and chewy in cookies, I normally add them with walnuts to regular chocolate chip cookies. And nothing wrong with a gigantic cookie
They look so delicious!
I'm all for a massive chunky chocolate cookie. Pass the milk.
Ooh! I've made something quite similar and I love this combination! These look lovely. I don't like making gigantic cookies either. Unless I get in the mood to make one of those cookie cakes for nonsensical reasons, usually.
White chocs and cranberries are always good together! Oats sounds like a great addition to the texture!
A wonderful combination! Those cookies look so good!Cheers,Rosa
I think I'm going to start calling all of my cookies "chunkers." I have a similar recipe to which I add pistachio nuts. A little green with the pink and white looks ever so pretty.
yeah let's make them chunky shall we? and perhaps a pinch of salt too.
d: they do have great sandwiches at Amy'sdanielle: coconut would probably be very goodmegan: i'd agree except that i hate melting white chocolate… drives me crazyphyllis: i never thought of adding cranberries to regular choc. chip cookies. sounds good.sangi: thanksjenn: ha, thanks for stopping bypinknest: ha, i've never made one of those cookie cakes before!pigpigscorner: definitelyrosa: thankscucinista: i do love pistachiosdawn: i should have mentioned that these do have a pinch of salt, and it's just enough so that you get a taste of it with every bite. i was very intrigued by how the recipe allowed the salt to come through so perfectly
Absolutely Fantastic!! That is MY kind of Cookie… Love cranberries and White Chocolate together, plus, it's generally held that all cookies containing Oatmeal are good for you…
So one should eat them with gusto as soon as they are cool enough to not burn your mouth.
YUM. I have a question for you: How do you control yourself when baking all these wonderful sinful treats?? Do you (and Jen?) eat a few and put them away for later? Do you eat them ALL at once? Do you give them away?The only reason I don't bake anymore (I love to bake!) is because I ended up eating so much! I have ZERO self control when it comes to dessert.
With the extra cranberry sounded wonderful
culinaryalchemist: right, these are pretty much health food so I ate 19 of them todaysuzanne: i have been known to bring treats to the office quite a bitselba: thanks
Nice Blog. Congrats.-Zakir Ali ‘Rajnish’ { Secretary-TSALIIM & SBAI } [Editor- Children’s Poem & Adult’s Poem]
this is my favorite flavor when I buy cookies from Mrs. Fields..
These sound crazy delicious and addicting!
Forgot to mention earlier… ever since I made oatmeal scones (from ATK’s Family Baking Book), which required toasting the oats, I immediately made a mental note: next time I make oatmeal cookies they, I MUST toast the oats. It brings out the nuttiness of the oats and tastes incredible (350 oven, 7 minutes, stirring often – for stovetop: use a skillet).
"The only bad thing, if you can call it that, is that these are really good while still warm, so you almost can't stop eating them straight from the oven."haha I can understand this.
Those cookies look great! So to explain lowlights. You know what highlights are right? Strips of the hair are made lighter with bleach. Lowlights do the opposite, when your hair is too light lowlights bring strips of darker color in. So blondies (brownies without chocolate) have lowlights, strips of dark (from the melted chocolate). LOL Okay had to come over here and explain!
Satisfying cookies- I love the white chocolate and fruit combo as well. They go well together.
I can probably eat a whole tray full of these! They look delicious!
Hi Justin, Your blog is fabulous and these cookies look so decadent! A great combination. Thanks for visiting my blog and adding me to your reading list.
Very tasty looking cookies!
these look heavenly! I'll have to make these this weekend at 3 in the AM – because otherwise its too hot to turn on the oven!!!
They look fanstic Justin. I like smaller cookies too, they make snacking a little more guilt-free.
Oats in cookies sound good! Great-looking cookies you made
SBA: thanks for visitingpeachkins: ha, i think mrs. fields is a 4-letter word in my housefinsmom: thankshanaa: very interesting tip!murasaki: ha, okay goodmichelle: thanks for explainingmiakoda: thanks
food librarian: i definitely could have eaten a whole tray, but i tried to be goodmarguerite: thanks so muchjodiemo: thanksgaby: yeah, I know, i baked these at about 9 at night for the same reasonkatherine: good pointlittle teochew: thanks
I love a cookie that I can stop eating! Sounds like a great one!
I really need to buy that cookbook! I keep hearing great things about it!
Ooooh, these look super yummy! Love all the add-ins!
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I love the sound of oats with this recipe. Must make them nice and chewy? I make something similar without the oats. I find it easy to interchange or combine the cranberry and orange zest. It goes wonderfully with the white chocolate. Those big cookies are too much! I like the smaller size.
barbara: thanksdessert girl: yeah, it's a good onesara: thanks for visitinganupama: hmm, thankstammy: i definitely love basic cookie recipes that are good for experimenting
Hmmm – Given my love of cookies, I can see myself eating enough of these to equal more than one giant cookie from the bakery.