About this Recipe

There can be so many variations to the chocolate chip cookie. Most children will eat chocolate chip cookies and this recipe is a way to sneak in a little added goodness by adding the cranberries and the raw sunflower seeds. Lots of kids don't care for raisins but will eat cranberries. When you bite into this cookie and get a cranberry in the bite, you get a nice little surprise in the flavor. Sunflower seeds are another thing that you can sneak into a cookie without kids noticing quite so much. They do not have the big flavor of a walnut but you get a little extra nutrition with the raw sunflower seeds added to the mix.

Grandmother's TIPS for Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies Recipe:

1. Be sure the butter is room temperature. It gives a nice consistency to the cookie dough. Melting butter is not the same and changes how the cookie batter will turn out.

2. Making your own cookies allows you to know exactly the ingredients that are in them and the type of sugars you want to use.

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Ingredients

(Print)

Makes: 12 big cookies

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup cane sugar (OR you can do 1/4 cup granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips, we used Camino fair trade 71% cacao brand

1/3 cup cranberries

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Stir the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl.

4. Place the butter and egg into the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and mix for 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix in.

5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet on low speed.

6. Mix in the chocolate chips until evenly dispersed, add and mix in the cranberries and then the sunflower seed.

7. Make 12 even mounds, roll the mounds with your hands into balls, flatten down with your fingertips. Try to make them a similar size so they bake at the same time.

8. Place into the preheated oven and bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

9. Remove from the oven and let sit a couple minutes then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.

ENJOY!

Different types of chocolate chips.

71% Organic Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (Camino Brand) - This chocolate chip is made from a rich cocoa plus golden cane sugar. There are no additives or emulsifiers. What you will get is a chocolate chip that is rich in chocolaty goodness.

Dark Chocolate Chips - these cover a range in percentages of cocoa that can range from 75 to 100 percent. There is little to no sugar and a higher percentage of cocoa. Darker chocolate has a more bitter taste because of the small amount of sugar added. Baking with dark chocolate can offer a strong natural chocolate flavor.

Bittersweet Chocolate Chips - are most commonly chosen for baking. Semisweet chocolate contains a higher content of cocoa; about 75 percent, whereas milk chocolate only contains about 20 percent cocoa. The main difference of bittersweet to semisweet is that bittersweet contains higher levels of the liquid from cocoa beans (chocolate liquor) and trace amounts of lecithin and vanilla.

Most people cannot determine the taste difference between bittersweet and semisweet chocolate chips and both are widely used.

Semisweet Chocolate Chips - are the most common in baking. They contain about 75 percent cocoa. Semisweet chocolate chips have a slight amount of sugar added to them. They keep their shape when baked.

Milk Chocolate Chips - are known as the sweetest chocolate chip for baking. This milk chocolate is similar to the chocolate found in most candy bars and has sugar added to it. They melt quickly when baking and slightly alter the texture of the baked item because of their characteristics.

When choosing chocolate chips for baking, chocolate with higher percentages have cocoa had more antioxidants. Try to choose chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa content for the benefits from dark chocolate.

For the healthiest alternative avoid dark chocolate that has trans fat, milk, artificial flavorings, high amounts of sugar or ingredients that you do not even know what they are.

Best to avoid alkali processing which is also known as Dutching.

Choose dark chocolate that is high-quality, and rich in antioxidants which also offer the very best in flavor.