Pecan, Cranberry, Cinnamon Chip Cookies

Hello blog friends and happy 2012 to you! I'm especially excited about this year since 2012 is the year I'll be getting married. :) Only 306 days to go! It'll be here before we know it...

Although our wedding is clearly on my mind, there's another very important thing on my mind at the moment. What might that be? Well, it's pecan, cranberry, cinnamon chip cookies, of course!! I made these cookies over this past weekend to share with friends on New Year's Eve, but I also made them because I wanted to submit a recipe to a Whole Foods recipe contest that was for "your best recipe for pecans." Once I taste tested one of these cookies and knew they were pretty darn yummy, my hope of submitting this recipe to the contest was confirmed. Check out my submission here. :) The entries are narrowed down to two final recipes on January 10th. Wish me luck!

Ingredients:

-6 oz. (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

-1 cup packed light brown sugar

-1/2 cup sugar

-2 large eggs

-2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup whole wheat flour

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1 tsp. ground cinnamon

-1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

-3/4 dried cranberries (e.g., Ocean Spray craisins)

-3/4 cup cinnamon flavored baking chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chopped pecans on a baking sheet; toast in the 350 degree oven for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove and set aside to let cool. Melt the butter in the microwave and allow it to cool slightly. Using a whisk, combine the butter and both sugars together in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add this flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture and fold until just combined. Fold in the pecans, dried cranberries, and cinnamon chips until well-incorporated, but be careful not to overmix.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop cookie dough by the tablespoonful on baking sheet, placing at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 - 14 minutes. When the edges are just lightly golden brown, remove from oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for a couple minutes before removing to cooling rack. Once fully cooled, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container. Makes 30 cookies.

I was very pleased with the flavor and texture of these cookies. The combination of the three ingredients - pecans, dried cranberries, and cinnamon chips - may be a new favorite flavor combination of mine! I bet this would be a yummy combo for muffins too....

 This recipe is very versatile too. You could easily use all whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour instead of half of each like I did here. And if you're not a fan of any of the ingredients, substitute away! Different flavors of baking chips, other nuts, etc. could be interchanged without a problem.

Hope everyone's 2012 is off to a great start thus far!

This post is linked up to Taste and Tell Thursdays.