If you haven't caught on by now, I am a pretty no fuss person. When I discovered this recipe by Dinner with Julia, I knew these simple fresh cranberry and white chocolate cookies would fit me to a tee. The real goal for me was to find a cookie with a holiday taste that might get dubbed "Mom's Cookie" so I wouldn't have to share. No such luck, everyone loves them. I have even been generous enough to share with friends as gifts, it is the season of giving after all.

A word of caution, this dough is pretty crumbly. The original recipe says to "drop spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheet". I have yet to make these and be able to accomplish this as you would be able to do with a chocolate chip cookie dough. Instead, I will either add 1 T of the juice of an orange (not orange juice) to bring the dough together or cover the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for an hour or so. You will still need to press the dough together in the palm of your hand before putting it on the cookie sheet. This will help the dough be a smoother consistency and insure that will stay together while baking.

Cranberry Crunchewy Cookies

Adapted from Dinner with Julia

1/4 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 c white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and orange zest with the electric mixer set at medium speed until well blended. The mixture will have the consistency of wet sand. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt using a whisk or fork. Add to the sugar mixture and stir by hand until just combined. Add the cranberries and white chocolate chips and stir until blended.

Take a spoonful of dough and press together in the palm of your hand, place onthe cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. Space the cookies about 1" apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until light golden and set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Let set on the cookie sheet for 1 to 2 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.