White Chocolate, Cranberry & Almond Oatmeal Cookies

Firstly I'd like to apologise: 1. for a having gone a little AWOL recently 2. I'd originally planned to do a come back post featuring a spectacularly chocolately, gooey, sky high little number but instead you're stuck with these cookies. Don't get me wrong these are gooood but sort of seems a bit anti climatic when I'd planned to blog said chocolatey gooey little number. To be honest I hadn't even planned to blog about these cookies but decided to take a few photos during and after and thought why not? Nothing fancy here, no props or styling. Just fresh out of the oven in all it's glory.

I'd baked these on a Sunday afternoon to take to a small family gathering at my Grandma's later on that evening. She's moved into her new little flat not long ago and I made these because well, it's rude to turn up empty handed, right? Also I knew my cousins will all be there and cookies are perfect for afternoon snack-age with a cup of tea (standard protocol whenever we go round to G-Ma's) and most importantly for anyone still hungry after the mass food fest that inevitably occurs later. Growing teenagers = bottomless pit. I'm looking at you, Eric.

These are based on my Pistachio & White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (noms). These are not overly sweet, soft in the centre, crisp around the edges with added crunch from the chopped almonds and bursts of sweetness from the cranberry and white chocolate. What I've noticed in general with oatmeal cookies is that they tend to not spread as much as regular cookies so to give it that slightly more flattened, rustic look I gently press down on the cookies with the back of a spatula/ fish slice half way through cooking before rotating the pan so they're less puffy in the centre but still have a nice, golden, crisp edge.

WHITE CHOCOLATE, CRANBERRY & ALMOND OATMEAL COOKIES
Yields approx. 10 large cookies

130g salted butter, melted and cooled
80g caster sugar
100g dark brown sugar (or you may sub light brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80g plain flour
80g strong white flour (bread flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
80g almonds, toasted and chopped
50g white chocolate, chopped into small-ish chunks (or you could sub chocolate chips)
75g dried cranberries, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment/ paper.
2. Sift the flours, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, Add the egg, vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated (do not overmix),  followed by the almonds, white chocolate and cranberries.
5. Roll into 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls and bake on the middle shelf for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Half way through baking, using a spatula press the cookies gently to 'deflate' the cookies, rotate the pan before continuing baking.
6. Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.