Okay, so it's not really cookie season (but then again, do we really want to limit ourselves to a particular season for eating cookies?). For my last week with my colleagues, I had to make a big impression. And cookies are kind of my signature. So I ignored the season and created a new recipe for my departure. To still stay with the "summer" theme, I decided to make a slightly more "healthy" recipe for white chocolate, cranberry and pumpkin seed cookies (no, I won't push it to the point of calling it "light" but compared to hazelnuts/M&M's, there's a slight improvement, right?).
The photo doesn't do them quite justice. In reality, I made a real effort with aesthetics and the contrast between the colors of the ingredients looks really good in person. In my defense, the cookies disappear so fast that it wasn't even possible to plan to keep a few for a nice photo shoot. To be honest, I brought them in the morning (after miserably wiping out on a Velib' stand) and by evening everything had disappeared.
You already know the basic recipe since I used the one from my classic cookies (I find it absolutely perfect). I just swapped the blonde muscovado sugar for brown muscovado sugar and it gives a really nice caramelized flavor. Whatever your preference between blonde or brown, I insist on using muscovado sugar which for me is THE secret to having cookies that are crispy on the outside and melting in the middle.
If you're as motivated as me this time, you can make the dough on one side, refrigerate it and add the fillings just before baking. If you're lazy like me usually am, you can mix everything before putting it in the fridge. It will be a bit less pretty but just as good!
I really love this recipe, the cranberries bring a slight tartness that balances the sweetness of the white chocolate well. Pumpkin seeds, in addition to their pretty color that goes well with the cranberries and their nutritional qualities, bring a really pleasant crunch to the tasting.
Finally, before I give you the recipe, a few reminders for successful baking:
- Make balls of regular size (so the cookies all bake the same) and space them well on the baking sheet to prevent them from sticking together as they spread
- Watch the cooking time, it's to the minute! The cookies should still be a bit raw in the center when you take them out
- Let them cook a bit more on the hot oven tray and move them to a rack as soon as they're moveable
- Bonus: you can freeze the raw dough balls individually. You just need to put them directly in the oven from the freezer and extend the cooking time by one minute (perfect in case of a temporary slump).
This way your cookies will be perfect!
