For our last cookie in the Great Statewide Cookie Exchange, which we’ve shared all month, we present cranberry cookies. This contributor took her grandmother’s recipe, searched the cupboard for ingredients, and improvised this recipe.

Photo by Jessalynn Cairer

Christmas Cranberry Cookies were contributed by Cindy Merx, Potosi, Mo., (Washington County). Cindy says, “As kids in 4-H, my uncle, brother, sister, and cousins all had steers. I would help them but had no interest in having my own. Instead, I was inside at Grandma’s… baking cookies. I would take Grandma’s recipes and play with them. This is how the Christmas Cranberry Cookies came about, and I actually used what Grandma had in her cupboard.”

Ingredients:
½ cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons orange, pineapple, or mango juice
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup milk
2 ½ cups fresh cranberries (must be fresh, not dried), chopped
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars for five minutes. Beat in egg and juice. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Beginning and ending with flour mixture and alternating with milk, add to cream mixture. Add cranberries, chocolate chips, and walnuts. Mix well. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool. Makes approximately 5 to 6 dozen.

You can download our entire Great State Cookie Exchange Recipes booklet here.