Kris Kringle Cookies

Sometimes it's nice to try new cookies at Christmas, but the ones that are usually best enjoyed are the more familiar.

This is a recipe for Kris Kringle Cookies.. not sure how authentic they are, but they are very popular in my house, especially with teenage boys and their friends.

The combo of white chocolate chips, dried cranberries and pecans seems a little odd, but together they provide a very nice taste. Oddly, both my husband and one of my sons (the one that is most like the husband) said independently to me that they don't like white chocolate, but in this cookie.... it's really good. 

I make a double batch (which is huge) and save some of the uncooked dough in the fridge (in tupperware) for a couple of days and until the first batch is eaten. Then I can be all Martha-ish and whip up fresh cookies very quickly later on.

This is my recipe, adapted from kraftfoods.com

The original recipe says it yields 72 servings, one cookie each, I have never actually counted, but I make mine bigger so I am sure it is way less. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 12 ounces White Chocolate Chips
•  1 1/2 cups Chopped Pecans, toasted
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate, pecans and cranberries.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls,* 1-1/2 inches apart, onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or use a Silpat. (I use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop which is 2 tablespoons. Makes a really nice sized cookie.
3. Bake 9 to 11 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 3 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

Notes:

• Depending on your oven, you may need to reduce the temperature to 350 and then bake for 11-13 minutes. I suggest doing one tray on its own first to see how they come out. You want them to be slightly soft, but not have that underdone look to them. They should crunch when you bite into them, but still be quite soft.
• You could substitute chopped dried apricots for the cranberries and/or chopped whole almonds for the pecans. The original recipe called for 2 cups each of nuts and cranberries, but when I made a double batch, I cut it back by 50%, still great!