Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies

By loves2bake

These thick and chewy Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies are sure to be a new holiday favorite in your home for years to come!

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, melted until browned, and brought back to room temperature
• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
• 8 ounces high-quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped (or pecans)
• 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for sprinkling, optional

Details

Servings 2
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from bakerbynature.com

Preparation

Step 1

To brown the butter:
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat; continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. About 6 to 8 minutes, depending on your stove top. Remove pan from heat and scrape butter - and any golden bits - into a medium sized, heatproof bowl. Place bowl in the fridge until butter has come back to room temperature; about 1 hour and 30 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the butter is solid, but just soft enough that you can scrape it out of the bowl (use a strong metal spoon).
Make the cookies:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda; whisk well to combine then set aside until needed.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, combine the chilled brown butter and both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in vanilla. Beat in egg and egg yolk, one at a time, beating until just combined, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, stirring until just combined. Fold in the chocolate, cranberries, and walnuts.
Scoop 3 tablespoon sized rounds of dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie for spreading. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until edges are set and the center is still a little jiggly.
Remove cookies from oven and sprinkle with sea salt, if using.
Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

Notes:
-For decorative purposes, you can press extra chocolate chunks on top of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven.
-Cookies will stay "fresh" for 3 days when stored in an airtight container.
-Cookie dough will keep in the fridge for 72 hours. Alternatively, you may scoop and freeze the cookie dough for up to 2 months. You will need to add an extra minute or two to the bake time if baking frozen dough.
-You can make smaller sized cookies, but you'll need to decrease the bake time by a minute or two.