Cranberry-Orange White Chocolate Drops

By skatewear

When time's an issue, whip up these easy one-bowl cookies. Cranberries and white chocolate sing in perfect harmony; nuts lend a crunchy, toasty undertone, and orange adds its own perfectly complementary flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, very soft
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon orange oil (4 to 5 drops); or the grated rind of 1 medium orange
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
• 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks or chips
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• extra-fine salt for dusting on top, optional

Preparation

Step 1

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F.Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) Combine the very soft butter with the sugars, salt, vanilla, and orange oil, beating to combine.

3) Add the egg and beat until well blended.

4) Add the baking soda, espresso powder, and flour, mixing until blended. What's up with the espresso powder? These cookies tend to border on overly sweet; the espresso powder cuts that sweetness just a bit, without adding any flavor of its own.

5) Stir in the chunks or chips, cranberries, and nuts.

6) Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten into disks, using gentle pressure from your fingers. Dust very, very lightly with fine salt, if desired; this helps balance the cookies' sweetness.

7) Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned; the tops should barely brown, if at all.

8) Remove the cookies from the oven, let them rest on the pan for 5 minutes, then slide them onto a rack to cool completely.

Yield: about 50 cookies.