Lunchbox Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Wedding Cake Murder

(Big, soft, chewy cookies)

Yield: 3 dozen large Lunchbox Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.

**Hannah's 1st Note: Lisa and I use our stand mixer down at The Cookie Jar to mix up these cookies.**

**Lisa's Note: The reason we called these cookies Lunchbox Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies is that Herb just loves to take a couple of these to work in his lunchbox and eat them when he's driving around in his cruiser, looking for parking violators.**

## Ingredients

* 1 and 1/2 cups Craisins ***(I used regular unflavored Craisins, but any dried sweetened cranberries will work)***
* 1 cup cranberry juice
* 1 and 1/4 cups white ***(granulated)*** sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg ***(freshly grated is best)***
* 1 teaspoon orange zest ***(that's just the colored part of the orange rind)***
* 1 cup of Karo syrup
* 2 beaten eggs ***(just whip them up in a glass with a fork)***
* 1 cup ***(2 sticks, 8 ounces, 1/2 pound)*** salted butter, melted
* 2 Tablespoons ***(1/8 cup)*** reserved cranberry juice from the cup of cranberry juice above
* 4 cups quick-cooking oatmeal ***(dry, right out of the package--I used Quaker's Quick-1 minute)***
* 4 cups all-purpose flour ***(don't sift, but don't pack it down either--scoop it out with your measuring cup and level it off with a table knife)***
* 1 cup chopped nuts ***(I used walnuts)***

* approximately 1/2 cup white ***(granulated)*** sugar for rolling the dough balls

## Directions

* Do NOT preheat oven yet--this cookie dough needs to chill.
* Put the Craisins ***(or other brand dried, sweetened cranberries)*** in a microwave-safe bowl.
* Pour the cup of cranberry juice over the top of the Craisins.
* Heat the bowl in a microwave on HIGH for 90 seconds. Leave it in the microwave for 1 minute and then stir.
* Set the bowl with the cranberries and juice on the counter. This will plump the Craisins.
* Put the sugar in the bottom of the bowl of your mixer and turn it on LOW speed.
* Add the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange zest. Mix them in thoroughly.
* Now add the cup of white Karo syrup. Keep the mixter running until everything is thoroughly blended.
* Add the beaten eggs. Mix until they're well incorpated.
* Melt the butter, either on the stovetop in a small saucepan, or in a microwave-safe bowl on HIGH 1 minute in the microwave. Let it sit in the microwave for another minute and then stir to see if it's melted. If it's not, give it another 20 seconds to finish melting it.
* Add the melted butter to your bowl and mix it in.
* Drain the Craisins with a strainer, but do not throw away the cranberry juice. Reserve 2 Tablespoons of cranberry juice ***(1/8 cup)*** to use in your cookie dough.
* Add the 2 Tablespoons of reserved cranberry juice to your bowl and mix it in.
* With your mixer running at LOW speed, add the oatmeal in one-cup increments, making sure to mix after each addition.
* With the mixer still on LOW speed, add the flour in one-cup increments, making sure to mix after each addition.
* Add the Craisins and mix them in.
* Finally, add the chopped nuts and mix thoroughly.
* Remove the bowl from the mixer, scrape down the sides, and give it a final stir by hand. This dough will be fairly stiff.
* Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and put the mixer bowl in the refrigerator for at least an hour. ***(Overnight is fine, too.)*** This dough will be easier to work with if it's chilled.
* When your dough is thoroughly chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F, rack in the middle position.
* Place the half-cup of white sugar in a shallow bowl. You'll use this to coat balls of cookie dough.
* Prepare your cookie sheets by spraying them with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray, or lining them with parchment paper.
* Roll the chilled dough in 2-inch balls with your fingers. ***(That's approximately the size of a golf ball.)*** Roll the dough ball in the bowl of white sugar to coat it, and then place it on the cookie sheet, no more than 6 balls to a standard-size sheet.
* Flatten the sugared cookie dough balls to a quarter-inch thickness with a wide metal spatula or with your impeccably clean palm.
* Repeat the process of rolling dough balls, coating them with sugar, placing them on the cookie sheet, and flattening them. They should be 2 to 3 inches apart and a standard-size cookie sheet will hold 6 of these big, delicious cookies.
* Bake at 375°F for 9 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. ***(Mine took the full 10 minutes.)***
* Remove the cookies from the oven, leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or so, and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.
* Once the cookies are completely cool, you can store them in a tightly covered container or cookie jar.

**Hannah's 2nd Note: If these cookies start to dry out before they're all eaten, drop a slice of apple or an orange or lemon peel into the bottom of the cookie jar to make them soft and chewy again.**

**Hannah's 3rd Note: If you want to make these cookies smaller, that's fine too. If you decide to roll 1-inch cookie balls, they will bake from between 6 to 8 minutes. If you choose to do this the yield will be double, from 5 to 6 dozen cookies.**

**Delores's Note: I'm really not fond of cranberries, but once Hannah made these cookies with dried blueberries for me. They were simply wonderful, despite the fact that there was no chocolate involved. I told her that she ought to leave out the fruit and try these cookies with chocolate chips someday. I even offered to taste-test them for her!**