Fast-forward to cookie of the year 2002: chewy cranberry oatmeal cookies.

Chewy Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
From Fine Cooking Magazine

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 cup 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs 2 extra large eggs
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups 1 cup dried cranberries or craisins
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Heat the oven to 350°F.
• Lightly grease two cookie sheets or line them with parchment.
• In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and oats.
• In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides after each.
• Add the honey and vanilla and beat until blended.
• Add the flour mixture in two three additions, beating until well combined.
• Stir in the cranberries and walnuts.
• Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets.
• Bake until the centers are soft and no longer look wet, 9 to 11 minutes 12 to 15 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

About this recipe: I've decided I will try and note any changes I make to a recipe, especially regarding the amount of sugar. I will strike out their original and list what I changed it to so that you can see both and decide for yourself what you'd like to do. Baking isn't the kind of activity that allows for a lot of variation, but as you can see, you can safely modify quite a bit and still have the end result come out well. I made quite a few changes in this recipe, probably more than usual. Obviously, substitutions like dark brown sugar for light brown sugar don't materially affect the dough, but using extra large, versus large eggs probably does. I've been doing this long enough to have a feel for what a recipe will tolerate. Oatmeal cookies are especially forgiving and a good place to try out a few things.

Back to the recipe. The directions suggest you could use a hand mixer to complete this cookie dough. As long as your hand mixer can handle a very thick dough at the end, I would agree with that statement.

This is my first cookie recipe since learning more about high altitude baking. As I've mentioned before, my cookies always come out as hard as a rock and flat as a pancake. This, thankfully, didn't happen. My current working theory is that using extra large eggs where large ones are called for will help. I plan to test this theory further since oatmeal cookies are usually less of a problem than a flour-based cookie. Since dark brown sugar has more molasses than light, it's possible that contributed as well.

Make sure to cream your butter and sugars together for a good while until it becomes lighter in color, from the color of the raw brown sugar to a light caramel is what you want. You can't really overdo creaming so when in doubt go for more time rather than less. I let the mixer run while I chopped the walnuts and prepared a few other things, about 5 minutes.

I added my eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each and mixing long enough for the dough to come back together, which it did. However, once I added the vanilla and honey, it wasn't quite smooth despite a lot of beating. I shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

I added the oatmeal mixture in three parts although I'm sure two would have worked eventually. After scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times during this process, the dough came together and it was thick and peanut-butter colored. I used the mixer to beat in the craisins and chopped walnuts and after a few turns, it was more or less evening incorporated.

I dropped my cookies onto the baking sheet in smaller than usual (for me) mounds of about 2 tablespoons each. I got almost 3 dozen cookies the final count weighing in at 33. When baked, my cookies stayed in nice, neat little mounds, spreading out only minimally (finally!). After they cooled, they retained their chewy softness.

The result: really good! Soft, sweet (I am very glad I cut down on the sugar), with a butteriness that is surprising given that they're oatmeal cookies. The cinnamon is notable and compliments the oats, walnuts, and cranberries. You could substitute raisins for the craisins in this recipe for a very good oatmeal raisin cookie or, don't use any dried fruit at all--the oatmeal base is delicious enough to stand on its own. For something a little more decadent, semi-sweet chocolate chips would be a sweet replacement for the craisins and would make a nice addition to the flavors in this cookie. I am always skeptical of recipes from magazines but this one proves that it is possible to get a recipe worthy of a card in your recipe box.