Fresh cranberry and white chocolate oatmeal sandwich cookies bursting with festive holiday flair.
Crisp around the edges, soft and chewy in the center, stuffed with cranberry cream cheese or vanilla mascarpone if ya wanna. You want this festive cookies on your holiday baking list stat.
Why This Recipe Works
- Full of Holiday Flair! Vibrantly bright and tart fresh cranberries pair with some of the seasons quintessential spices creating a festive oatmeal cookie perfect for the Holidays!
- White & Brown sugar! Using both deepens the flavor of each, adding complexity and that crisp-around-the-edges and chewy-in-the-middle texture!
- All the Flavors! Tart fresh cranberries, milky sweet white chocolate, nutty oats, spicy-sweet and warming cinnamon and nutmeg, tangy cream cheese and mascarpone… let’s do this!
- Light & Fluffy Frosting! Thanks to using a food processor/stand mixer to whip in air as it beats it!
These delightfully colorful cranberry loaded oatmeal cookies are good enough on their own, sans stuffing. With the stuffing, they become a cookie-frosted-cake combo situation that you’ll def want in your Holiday cookie repertoire!
Move over dried cranberries! It’s time to add some juicy, tart, fresh cranberries to your baked goods! The season for this fall super fruit is short… let’s be sure to take full advantage!
How to Make these Cookies
- Cream butter and both sugars in the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer. Add the vanilla, egg and salt and beat. Add the flour and baking soda and mix again. Fold in the cranberries, white chocolate chips and oats.
- Roll cookies into balls and bake in the oven.
- While the cookies bake, make your filling in a food processor or stand mixer. The fresh cranberry filling take a bit more time as we cook down cranberries on a stove, but if you’re pressed for time stick with just the vanilla mascarpone filling or simply enjoy unstuffed!
- Wait for the cookies to cool then slather a layer of frosting on the underside of one cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat until all done.
In order to make the best cookies ever, your ingredients are of utmost importance! For best results, use the high-quality good stuff!
We’ve loaded and stuffed a classic cookie for a fun pop of pink color, lots of fall flavor and Holiday flair!
Cooks Tip
- Be sure to use old fashioned oats for the cookies, not steel cut or any other variety.
- Cranberries love to roll around when you’re trying to chop them. Use a large cutting board and be on your toes for escapees.
- For light and airy frosting, let butter, mascarpone, and/or cream cheese come to room temp before whipping.
- Let the cookies cool completely before frosting. Warm cookies will make an oozing frosting mess.
- You can bake the cookies a few days ahead, but they are best filled within a few hours of serving.
Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Fresh cranberry and white chocolate oatmeal cookies stuffed with cranberry cream cheese or vanilla mascarpone — crispy edges, chewy center, lots of holiday flair.
Servings: 12
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter unsalted, room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup fresh cranberries coarsely chopped
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 8 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla Mascarpone (or Cream Cheese) Frosting
- 4 tablespoons butter unsalted, room temperature
- 2 ounces mascarpone softened (or cream cheese)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean pod scraped out or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor with the dough blade, cream the butter and both sugars until fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix to combine. Add the flour and baking soda and mix again
- Remove batter into a large bowl and fold in fresh cranberries, white chocolate chips and oatmeal.
- Scoop dough into 1-inch balls, rolling between your hands to make them perfectly circle. Place on prepared baking sheets, leaving 1.5 inches between each cookie.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Cookies will look underdone and still pale, but this is what you want! Allow to cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Put the cranberries, granulated sugar, and water to a simmer in a saucepan. Lower the heat and simmer the cranberries, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until they've popped and the mixture is quite thick. Let cool slightly.
- While the cranberries are simmering, combine cream cheese and butter in a food processor with the dough attachment (or use a standing mixer if you have one unlike me) and cream until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla extract and whip for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add the cooled cranberry mixture to the cream cheese and whip for an additional minute.
Vanilla Mascarpone (or Cream Cheese) Frosting
- Combine Mascarpone (or cream cheese) and butter in the bowl of a food processor with the dough attachment (or use a standing mixer if you have one) and cream until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla bean (or vanilla extract) and whip for an additional 30 seconds.
To Assemble the Cookies
- Assemble the cookies by slathering about 2 tablespoons of frosting on the flat side of one cookie, then sandwich with the flat side of another cookie! Repeat with remaining cookies. Use all a combo of both frostings, just one or none ~ your choice!
Notes
- Be sure to use old fashioned oats for the cookies, not steel cut or any other variety.
- Cranberries love to roll around when you’re trying to chop them. Use a large cutting board and be on your toes for escapees.
- For light and airy frosting, let butter, mascarpone, and/or cream cheese come to room temp before whipping.
- Let the cookies cool completely before frosting. Warm cookies will make an oozing frosting mess.
- You can bake the cookies a few days ahead, but they are best filled within a few hours of serving.
Want More Fresh Cranberry Recipes?
Cranberries aren't just for cranberry sauce — here's the full sweet and savory collection.
- Cranberry Focaccia with Rosemary & Caramelized Shallots — no-knead, vibrantly festive, and made for the holiday table.
- Fresh Cranberry Braised Brisket — sweet, savory, tart, and fall-off-the-fork tender.
- Cranberry Chicken — a juicy skillet dish that tastes like the holidays.
- Cranberry & Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops — spicy, tart, sweet, one pan, under 30 minutes.
- Cranberry Gingersnap Pie — magnificently magenta cranberry curd in a spicy gingersnap walnut crust.
- Cranberry Caramel Tart with Candied Macadamia Nuts — gooey caramel, tart cranberries, and pumpkin spiced candied macadamia nuts in a buttery tart crust.
- Sugared Cranberries — two ingredients, sparkling, done in 30 minutes.
If you tried this recipe, I'd love to hear about it — leave a comment below and let me know, and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too!
If you enjoyed this dish, explore more seasonal recipes and colorful produce guides on the site.
Let's make waves in the kitchen.
These look awesome!
Thanks so much!!! I’m actually working on this blog post right now :). ?
Looks delicious. Love the color!!!!!
Such an interesting (and yummy-looking) idea! Can't wait to try it.
Thank you so much Stephanie! Please let me know how it goes :).
Do they have to be refrigerated once complete? I was hoping to add them to my Christmas cookie tins
Hi and so stoked to hear you’re making these!!! How long will they be in the tins for? The frosting is the only concern so it’s also an option to just not stuff them... 💜😘
Do you need to make both frosting? Or will making 1 be enough to stuff them all
You can def make the recipe with only 1 of the frostings. I'd rec doing 1.5x the recipe to make sure there's enough :).