Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies for the home table
These Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies combine a crispy outside with a soft and fudgy inside that's filled with semi-sweet chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and toasted chopped walnuts. They're a rich and chocolatey cookie recipe that requires no dough chilling before baking and a great addition to any holiday cookie box!
Why this bake works
The taste. These Dark Chocolate Cranberry Walnut Cookies give you a little sweet, a little tart, and a hint of nutty flavor. It's the trifecta of flavor combos in cookie form!
The consistency. They have a crispy edge with a soft and fudgy inside. And each bite gives you a combo of semi-sweet chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and toasted Diamond of California chopped walnuts.
A strong match for any holiday cookie box! This method makes 36 cookies, making them a perfect addition to your holiday cookie boxes. Or you can simply make them to share with your family right at home!
No cookie dough chilling! And just like my Lemon Shortbread Cookies and my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookies, there is zero chilling required of this cookie dough, so you can make them, bake them, then enjoy them!
What goes in
To make these dark chocolate cranberry walnut cookies, you will need the following ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour. Use your favorite brand of flour. I didn't test this with any other kind.
- Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder. Regular unsweetened works just as well too.
- Baking Soda & Salt. Typical leavening agent you find in cookie recipes. The salt helps to round out the flavors and counteracts the bitterness with unsweetened dark cocoa.
- Unsalted Butter. Should be softened and at room temperature
- Sugars. You'll need granulated sugar or organic pure cane sugar and light brown sugar. The brown sugar, if using measuring cups, should be lightly packed.
- Eggs. You'll need two large, and they should be at room temperature.
- Vanilla Extract. Pure vanilla is best!
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. You can also use milk chocolate in place of semi-sweet!
- Dried Cranberries. You can find these in the dried fruits section of your grocery store.
- Diamond of California Chopped Walnuts. Part of the Baker's Box from Diamond of California, which you can find at your nearest Costco! You get 3, 22-ounce bags—chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, and slivered almonds! Or you can get Costco's online exclusive Baker's Box which features macadamia nuts instead of slivered almonds. Clearly toast the walnuts before folding them into the cookie dough to bring out that beautiful fragrant flavor!
How it comes together
Below is a brief overview of how to make these easy dark chocolate cranberry walnut cookies.
Toast the chopped walnuts. This works best over medium heat in a small skillet. No oil is needed whatsoever! You want to toast them for about 5 minutes, continually stirring until they're fragrant and slightly darker from how they originally started. Don't leave them unattended because they will darken quickly.
Toasting the chopped walnuts is optional but does help to amplify their flavor when paired with the other ingredients.
Make the cookie dough. Whisk the dry ingredients together, then mix the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. You can use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this part.
Fold in the rest. Use a spatula or spoon and stir in the semi-sweet chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and toasted Diamond of California chopped walnuts.
Scoop out the cookies and bake. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF. I got 12 cookies to a baking sheet using my 1 1/2 tablespoon size cookie scoop.
Let the cookies cool. Let them cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. They will be very soft, so use a spatula! For just baked evenly round cookies, see my tips below!
Tips for Getting Evenly Round Cookies
Use a cookie scoop. I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon-size cookie scoop.
Use a circle cookie cutter. Immediately after the cookies have been baked, take a circle cookie cutter—or any circle object slightly larger than the diameter of the cookie—and in a circular motion, move the cookie cutter around the cookie until it forms a perfect circle.
For a more detailed step-by-step, you can check out my Salted Brownie Crinkle Cookies recipe!
- Yield 36 cookies
- Prep 20 minutes
- Cook 10 minutes
- Total 30 minutes
- Calories 180
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Unsweetened Dark Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 cup Diamond of California Chopped Walnuts, lightly toasted
- 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries
Method
- In a small skillet, toast the chopped walnuts over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously until they are fragrant and slightly darker in appearance. You do not need to add any oil to the skillet.
- Adjust the oven rack to the 2nd level position (just above center), heat the oven to 375ºF, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or you can use silicone baking mats.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened dark cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Hold to the side.
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar together on medium-high speed until light in color and airy in texture.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to stir together until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Switching the mixer speed to low, gradually add in your whisked dry ingredients until just combined. Then fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips, toasted chopped walnuts, and dried cranberries.
- Using a spoon or cookie scoop (I used the 1 1/2 tablespoon size), drop the cookie dough onto the lined baking sheets leaving 2 inches apart between each cookie.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375ºF.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Keep the cookies stored in an airtight container for up to a week with a slice of bread.
Baker notes
Recipe adapted from the Double Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies recipe.
