Double Chocolate Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Walnuts

Growing up I had a poster in my room of Seasame Street's Cookie Monter stuffing his face with cookies with a caption that said "Got Milk?" I think it's fair to say cookies are an American favorite and over the years the cookie has developed from classic chocolate chip to an incredible, ever-growing, variety from pumpkin spice to blueberry cream. Regardless of the type of cookie, it always tastes best with a glass of cold milk. I love cookies that are loaded with nuts and fruits giving them flavor and, well, anything with chocolate is usually a winner. I had an old recipe clipping from an August 2007 issue of Gourmet for Cherry Chocolate Cookies and in recognition of the magazine's being 86'd, I decided I would make it and adapt to what ingredients I had. The dried cranberries add a fantastic chewiness and the nuts give the perfect crunch. I made a bunch and brought a plate to work which disapeared within one hour.

Double Chocolate Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Walnuts

(Adapted from Gourmet Magazine's Cherry Double Chocolate Cookies recipe: makes about 3 dozen)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch salt

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs (fake eggs work perfectly)

1/2 cup chocolate morsels

1 cup walnuts, corsely chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, placing the racks on the upper and third level.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and brown sugar until it is well combined. Then add the flour mixture and mix just until it is combined. Then add the chocolate morsels, pecans and cranberries just until incorporated.

4. On ungreased baking sheets drop two tablespoons of the batter per cookie about two inches apart from each other. Each sheet should hold about one dozen cookies. Gently flatten the cookies using your hands.

5. Bake for 12-14 minutes, switching the level of the sheets half way through. Transfer the cookies to a rack, and cool. Or if you are like me and can't wait, you can bite into one right away and burn your mouth.