Orange Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies and Basic Hot Chocolate Recipes!

Orange Cranberry Almond Oatmeal Cookies

I hate cranberries, always have, still do alone (I had to check after making this recipe because I was so shocked that I actually enjoyed the cranberry in this, I still can't eat dried cranberries alone.)  Anyhow, after trying the seasonal orange cranberry truffle at See's candy (they are seasonal... aka limited time... I couldn't resist at least TRYING them), I fell in love with the combo.  The orange brings out the sweetness in the cranberry instead of that nasty tart taste I can't stand.  Anyhow, here's my recipe I made (yes me, I made it, It's crazy that I finally came up with my own recipe, even crazier is that it worked wonderfully)  I bought my kimani's cinnamon, vanilla powder and vanilla beans from my wonderful friend Whitney.  She started an amazing company called Indrivanilla.... check it out, you won't believe the quality and prices!  Amazing!  Anyhow, on to my first recipe ever!

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla powder

1 gourmet vanilla bean split and scraped

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon orange extract, or 1/4 teaspoon lorann's orange oil (or other food grade orange oil)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (also great with whole wheat flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kimani's cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350*.Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla, orange zest and orange oil. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg until combined.  Add cranberries, oatmeal, and sliced almonds. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets by rounded tablespoon.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

If you don't want to wait to order the awesome supplies from Indrivanilla, then you can substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for both types of vanilla, and regular ground cinnamon.... but I seriously recommend buying the quality ingredients.

Also, here's an awesome recipe for hot chocolate

... in the microwave, because I'm lazy. This recipe is based off the recipe from Top Secret Recipes.  Check out the books, they are awesome!

1/4 cup water

2 TBS unsweetened baking cocoa

2 TBS white sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder

3/4 cup milk

Combine water, cocoa, sugar and vanilla in a microwave safe bowl.  microwave 30 seconds. stir until well combined.  Poor into a microwave safe cup with milk and microwave another 1-1 1/2 minutes.  Top with whipped cream. (vanilla bean whipped cream would be amazing here I think, but I'm not gonna lie, I was lazy enough that I didn't bother)

Pin It