Wednesday, December 11, 2013

The Great Food Blogger Swap! Cranberry Fig Cookies


This year I was lucky enough to get in on the Third Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, which raises funds for Cookies for Kids Cancer. It was a huge honor to be able to participate in this event, especially for a cause so near and dear to my heart.


My contribution? An oat-filled, fig- and cranberry- packed cookies. Hearty, sweet, and a festive twist on the usual oatmeal raisin we see so often in lunchboxes. Swapping some of the flour for oat flour bumps the protein and fiber-- sneaky, eh?


The lucky recipients of a dozen of each of these gems were Lisa @ Taste Cook Sip (such a darling woman!),  Hannah at Fleur-de-Licious (love that name!), and Marly @ Chicago Foodies (my hometown!). Check out their blogs for their GFB Cookie Swap recipes!


Many thanks to Lindsay and Julie at Love and Olive Oil and the Little Kitchen for putting on such a huge, wonderful, fundraiser, and to the lovely bloggers to participated! Let's make cancer a thing of the past!

Tomorrow: The delightful treats I was lucky enough to receive from the Cookie Swap bloggers and sponsors!


Cranberry Fig Cookies

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup oat flour
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup each chopped dried figs and cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a clean bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugars, and cinnamon together. Add the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well in between. Scrape down the sides as needed with a spatula.

Slowly add the flour mixture in in two parts, mixing well in between. Slowly fold in the dried fruit and oats. For the best cookies, loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the dough in the fridge for at least an hour.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop dough out onto baking sheets, leaving plenty of room for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes, flipping the sheets top and bottom/front to back halfway through; be sure to remove the cookies when they still look slightly underdone to maintain chewiness. Transfer to cooling racks and wait until coole.