Cranberry Chocolate Chippers

Source: A recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Rose's Christmas Cookies, posted on CLBB

Marion Bush's Cranberry-Chocolate Chippers

makes 2 1/2 dozen 2-inch cookies

1/2 cup walnut halves
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 scant tablespoons zest from 1 large orange
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Place the walnuts on a cooke sheet and bake them, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Soften the butter. Coarsely chop the cranberries and walnuts. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda, then whisk together to mix evenly. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange zest, and vanilla extract until blended, scraping the sides of the bowl. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Add the walnuts, cranberries, and chocolate chips and beat just until blended.

Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto the cookie sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes. The cookies should still be soft.

Allow the cookies to cool on the sheets for a few minutes. When they are firm enought to lift, use a small, angled metal spatula or pancake turner to transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Store:
In an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer.

Keeps:
One month at room temperature, several months frozen.

Smart Cookie:
-When removing the zest from the orange, remove only the orange portion and not the bitter white pith beneath.
-Use only fresh cranberries. Frozen cranberries bleed their juices into the dough, and the cookies have a tendency to burn on the outside before cooking thoroughly.
-The food processor method for making this cookie dough is especially effective because the batter does not turn pink.
-These cookies are also delicous without the chocolate.
-Allow the cookie sheets to cool completely before using for the next batch.
-Distribute the cookies evenly around the cookie sheet. Avoid crowding the cookies into one section of the sheet, leaving a large area bare.

I talked about this recipe HERE.