Dark Chocolate-Cranberry Cookies

These are only slightly modified from my all-time favorite cookie recipe for White Chocolate-Cranberry Cookies. Obviously, the adaptation was not a difficult one…These cookies are chewy, rich, and delicious, and can easily be made via traditional recipe or adapted to a vegan cookie. Dark chocolate in a vegan cookie? Indeed! Any high quality dark chocolate should be vegan in fact. As a rule milk fat is only added to poor-quality dark chocolate, so if you are vegan, just be sure to read the ingredient list before selecting your chocolate, or, of course, you can always use carob instead…

I’m trying to make the switch over to thinking in terms of fall ingredients, and now that the weather has (finally!) cooled down a little that shift seems a bit more natural….Not that dried cranberries are particularly a “fall” ingredient, but fresh cranberries do begin to come into their peak in October, and we generally associate cranberries with Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it’s not that much of a stretch to count this as an autumn recipe….is it? I am trying to start assembling my Thanksgiving recipes now so that I can get some of them up on the site in plenty of time for the holiday, and requests and suggestions are always very much appreciated…What are your favorite Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts? I’d love to hear about what dish you most look forward to at your holiday meal….

Anyway, the cookies:

Ingredients:

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

– 1 c. flour

– 1 tsp. salt

– 1 tsp. baking soda

– 1 c. butter or butter substitute, softened

– 3/4 c. brown sugar

– 3/4 c. white sugar

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 2 eggs (or 1/2 c. applesauce, plus 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil for vegan cookies)

– 1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips or pieces

– 1 c. dried sweetened cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl

3. In a large bowl  combine butter (substitute) and both types of sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy

4. Add vanilla to creamed sugars

5. Add eggs one at a time, or if making vegan cookies, mix together applesauce and oil and add slowly to your sugar mix

6. Slowly begin to mix in your flour, adding a bit at a time and mixing well after each addition

7. Add dark chocolate to your cookie dough. Mix well.

8. Add dried cranberries

9. Use a spoon (or your hands!) to scoop out cookies. Place on greased baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.

10. Remove from oven. Allow to cool on baking sheets 2-3 minutes.

11. Transfer to a cooling rack or paper towels to finish cooling.

12. Enjoy!

Someone really wants that cookie…