Airy Berry Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle

Blackberry Pie Murder

## Ingredients

* 1 and 1/2 cups rolled oats ***(uncooked dry oatmeal--use the fold-fashioned kind that takes 5 minutes to cook, not the quick 1-minute variety)***
* 1/2 cup salted butter ***(1 stick, 4 ounces, 1/4 pound)***
* 3/4 cup white ***(granulated)*** sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon flour ***(that's not a misprint--it's only one teaspoon!)***
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 large egg, beaten ***(just whip it up in a glass with a fork)***
* 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries ***(I used Craisins)***
* 1/2 cup white chocolate chips ***(I used Ghirardelli's)***

## Directions

* Measure the oatmeal and place it in a medium-sized bowl.
* Melt the butter and pour it over oatmeal. Stir until it's thoroughly mixed.
* In a small bowl, combine the white sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt. Mix well.
* Add the sugar mixture to the oatmeal mixture and blend them together thoroughly.
* Mix in the vanilla extract.
* Add the beaten egg and stir until everything is combined.
* Mix in the half-cup of sweetened dried cranberries. Then add the white chocolate chips and stir them in thoroughly.

**Hannah's 1st Note: I once used cherry-flavored Craisins in these cookies. That means I had to rename them *Airy Cherry-Berry Cookies*.**

* Line cookie sheets with foil, shiny side up. Spray the foil lightly with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
* Drop the cookie dough by rounded teaspoonful onto the foil, leaving space for spreading. Don't crowd these cookies together. Place no more than 6 or 8 cookies on each cookie sheet.

**Hannah's 2nd Note: Lisa and I use a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop to form these cookies down at The Cookie Jar. It's the perfect size.**

* Bake your Airy Berry Cookies at 350 degrees F. for 12 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cool them on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes.
* Pull the foil off the cookie sheet and onto a wire rack.
* Let the cookies cool completely on the sheet of foil before you try to remove them.
* When the cookies are completely cool, peel them carefully from the foil and store them in a cool, dry place. ***(Your refrigerator is NOT a dry place.)***
* If you want to dress up these cookies for special company, wait until they're cool and then drizzle them with melted chocolate chips mixed with juice, milk, or a berry or coffee liqueur. The recipe is below:

## Chocolate Drizzle

* 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips ***(or milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips--it's your choice)***
* 6 Tablespoons juice, milk, or liqueur

* Before you start, lay out sheets of wax paper and place the completely cooled cookies close together on the wax paper.
* Place the chips and the liquid you chose in a microwave-safe bowl and heat them on HIGH for 30 seconds.
* Let the bowl sit for at least 15 seconds and then stir it smooth with a spoon or a heat-resistant spatula. If you can't stir it smooth and the chips are still lumpy, microwave the mixture in 20-second intervals until you can stir it smooth.
* Check the consistency of your mixture. If it's too thick to drizzle, add additional liquid until it's the proper drizzling consistency. If it's too thin, add a few more chips and microwave again until those are melted and can be stirred into the drizzling mixture.
* Place the bowl right next to the wax paper with the cookies and use a big spoon to drizzle the cookies with lines of chocolate sweetness. You can go all one way to make parallel lines or you can drizzle lines that crisscross each other. The design is up to you.
* Let the chocolate drizzle harden on top of the cookies and then store them between sheets of wax paper in a cool, dry place.

Yield: One batch of Airy Berry Cookies makes about 2 and 1/2 dozen cookies.