Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

These chocolate and cranberry cookies were one of those recipes that caught my eye right away.  The combination of dark chocolate and chewy, tart, dried cranberries is just so promising.  Not to mention, this cookie seems perfectly fitting for this time of year. 

Since I enjoy my cookies on the chewy side, I usually tend to make them a bit larger than the recipe calls for.  For example, in her recipe, Tessa calls for one good teaspoon of dough per cookie.  I went with about 1/4 cup per cookie.  Instead of 30 bite-sized cookies I ended up with 10 big cookies. 

We really enjoyed these cookies.  The tart cranberries really help bring out the deep rich flavor of the dark chocolate.  This is a deeply satisfying cookie with rich complex flavors.  It would be perfect served with coffee.

Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Adapted from Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros

Makes about 10 large cookies or 30 teaspoon sized cookies

Tessa says, "These I learned from my American fried Sue.  When I first made them my children said they were the best ever and I must definitely put the recipe in this book - so here it is.  I also love them with dried strawberries instead of cranberries, and sometimes my girls prefer them without the cranberries, just chocolate.  I like these small so I make them no bigger than a good teaspoon of dough, but you might like to make them larger.  I also like to take them as a gift, packed in a lovely box and tied with a ribbon.  Unless you have a huge oven, you will need to bake these in batches so have the two cookie sheets ready."

5-1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 cup firmly packed soft brown sugar

1/4 cup superfine sugar

1 egg

a few drops of vanilla extract

1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

salt

3/4 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate

1/2 cup dried cranberries (dried cherries would also be nice)

Preheat the oven to 375F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Mash up the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until well mixed, then whisk with an electric beater until smooth.  Mix in the egg and vanilla.  Sift in the flour and baking powder, and add a small pinch of salt.  Beat with the wooden spoon to make a soft sandy mixture.  Stir in chocolate and cranberries.

Lightly moisten your hands and roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls.  Arrange them on the sheets, leaving a fair space between for flattening and spreading.  Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden and darkening around the edges.  Remove from the oven, but leave them on the sheet to cool and firm up.  These will keep in a cookie jar for a couple of days.

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