Oatmeal cookies are my absolute favorite, so I’m always on the lookout for oatmeal cookie recipes. I’ve made applesauce oatmeal cookies, and banana oatmeal cookies, and incredible oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars, but never any exactly like this – with shredded apples and dried cranberries.
Since I was in a mood for cookies and am having fun making easy healthy oatmeal recipes to celebrate National Oatmeal Month, it seemed like a good idea to give them a go.
Skinny Cranberry Apple Oatmeal Cookies
The recipe jumped out of me from the pages of one of my favorite cookbooks – the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. Each cookie has just 2 WW Points+.
The cookies baked up soft and chewy with just the right amount of sweetness and spice. I modified the recipe just a bit, opting to use a combination of baking soda and baking powder instead of all baking soda and substituting my Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus Blend (a wonderful combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, orange peel cloves and ginger) for the cinnamon and nutmeg.
They’ve been a hit with everyone here in the house. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.
- ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour or white wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats, preferably toasted
- 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- Place rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Stir in the oats.
- In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy. Add the apple, egg and vanilla and continue beating until well combined.
- With the mixer on low, gradually beat in the flour mixture until blended, then stir in the cranberries.
- Drop the cookie dough by tablespoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets, making a total of 24 cookies.
- With the back of a spoon, or your damp fingers, flatten each cookie.
- Bake, one cookie sheet at a time in the center of your oven, until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets placed on wire racks for 2 to 3 minutes. Then transfer the cookies to the wire racks to cool completely.
Skinny + cookies?! Great combo!