Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

This is the cookie that I made for a treat at my daughter's orchestra concert last week. They were a hit, we did not have any leftover to take home. Good thing I saved a few out before the concert. These are Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, and it is an adaptation of a recipe I found on the Baker's Chocolate Website. There is a wealth of information on the packages of products in the pantry. When I am choosing things to make or bake, I check the package to see if they have a website, and then check current recipes. Sometimes I find something I can make with ingredients on hand, and then throw my own twist on that recipe. As in with this recipe, instead of the nuts I added dried cranberries. They were fudgy, chewy, and yummy!!



Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
(an adaptation to Baker's Chocolate for the Double-Chocolate Chunk Cookies; my variations are at the bottom after the recipe; this is the recipe from the website, they also have a lot more great recipes)

1 pkg (12 oz) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate chunks, divided
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Microwave one cup of the chocolate chunks in microwaveable bowl on high 2 min or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir chocolate until completely melted; set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt until well blended; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir in melted chocolate. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in remaining chocolate chunks and the walnuts. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake 10 minutes or until chocolate cookies are puffed and feel set to the touch. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

Cre8tive's Variation on this recipe:
- I used one 12 oz package of dried cranberries in place of the nuts
- I used 1 box of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares (since that is what I had on hand) and chopped 4 squares for the chunks in the cookies and 4 squares to melt, it turned out wonderful.
- Then I followed the instructions just like it says on the recipe.