Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies for the Secret Recipe Club

It's time again, to reveal a recipe that I've chosen for the Secret Recipe Club. Once a month, members are assigned a blog to peruse, and to choose a recipe, make it and blog it.  It's a really fun way to discover new blogs.

The fun part is that we keep our assigned blog a secret until the reveal day.  When I found out that I was assigned to "Through the Bugs on my Windshield", I cracked a big smile.  Suzanne has been a very loyal follower of my blog, and she's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. She's a Texas gal, who is quite the photographer. She's a wife, mom, and traveler.  Her blog name is derived from her saying "Life is like a windshield-- there's gonna be a few bug splats along the way".

Suzanne has a wide assortment of recipes, and it was hard for me to hone down my final choice.  Her Bacon and Bleu Cheese Dressing/Dip would have been something my men would love to sink their teeth into.  Then, I spotted the Southwestern Chicken Tortilla Stew. That's right up my alley. Her Southwestern Stuffed Poblanos is what I decided to make....

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...and then I realized, that as much as I love baking cookies, I haven't made any in a long time.  So another savory recipe will have to wait, while I switch over to baking something sweet.  My husband always appreciates having some cookies to toss in his lunch box, and my son is known to eat a few at a time.  So, when I spied the Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies, and realized that I had all of the ingredients on hand, this was my SRC choice for the month.

Cranberries and white chocolate does sound like a winter Christmas cookie combination. But, I use dried cranberries year-round.  (I stock up on them to make my homemade Cranberry-Almond granola.)  I love white chocolate.  Combine that with any kind of almond flavor, and I'm sold. 

The batter is similar to a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, except that this one uses all brown sugar. 

I debated between using pecans vs. almonds, but decided to use some toasted almonds-- and I ramped up the almond flavor by adding some almond extract and some vanilla extract.

While the oven preheated to 350F, I chilled the dough; then scooped the cookie dough onto parchment paper.

Eleven minutes later, they were baked to golden.

This recipe made 3 1/2 dozen.  For my own sake, so that I don't become a cookie monster, they are boxed up and ready to go to my husband's office.  I'm sure they'll be appreciate by his co-workers.

TASTING NOTES:  Cranberry and white chocolate are a great pairing.  If you like a soft cookie, that has a perfect balance of butter flavor, brown sugar, tart cranberries and just the right amount of white chocolate-- this cookie is for you.  I'd make these again, but I have to admit-- I'm a much bigger fan of cookies that are crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle.  I'm not saying these aren't good cookies, because they are.  I'm just going to tweak the recipe a little bit, next time, with a combo of butter and shortening, to get that "crispy-chewy" combo that I love so much.   

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. If you can't view it, then click here.  At the very bottom, you'll find even more recipes from the rest of Group B, for the Secret Recipe Club.