Brown Butter Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies: New friends in old places

For SN - and our budding friendship

It takes a long time for me to build a friendship. I'm mostly friendly to a lot of people but I don't open myself up to a lot of friends. I'm incredibly slow to warm up and it takes me a while to be ready to get to know new faces. But when I do open up, the excitement I feel from opening my life up to another person to have fun with, share my life with and grow old with makes me giddy. It's similar to that feeling that you have when romance first begins - the excitement of seeing that person's face and wondering what he or she will say next. (Husband - of course you still have my romantic spark and adoration, but this is different.)

In the last few weeks I've gotten to know another mom from school and it turns out that although we have very little in common (except for a bit of that tiger mom roar) we totally get each other. She's skinny but I'm not. I'm funny - and she might be a little funny. (I'm funnier for sure.) She loves to eat more than she loves to cook and I definitely like to do both. I'm more relaxed that she is, which is very hard to believe and on any given day, you'll find her volunteering at school while you'll find me doing something at the gym.

But it's nice, the building of new friendships. I often forget how nice it is to open myself up to new relationships as my general shyness and fear of people overtakes me on most days. But having a new relationship means new chances at finding someone else who is like you in your nuttiness and understands that you're not perfect, even on the best day. I think that's what I like best about building a new relationship; the goal isn't about showing how perfect you are, but rather allowing all your imperfections to show and have the other person accept you anyways.

I made this cookie and it reminded me of new friendships. It has a richness, a wholesomeness and a tart sweetness which pretty much epitomizes the best of friendships, don't you think? There is a mix of whole wheat and regular flours, a hefty amount of oats and the special addition of ground flaxseed as well. These cookies end up not being overly sweet because of the bulk of oats, flax and flour. The texture has a bit of softness but still structurally chewy. I love the brown butter back notes, but you can certainly NOT do it as brown butter, and simply just make them with room temperature butter.

Brown Butter Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter cut into pieces - either melt and turned into brown butter or room temperature butter
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups dried cranberries
¼ cup ground flax seeds (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 350.

Make brown butter if desired. Heat a heavy pot or skillet over medium heat and add butter pieces. Whisk frequently to ensure even melting of the butter. After about 5 to 6 minutes of melting, the butter will foam up and subside. At this point, watch the butter carefully to see if the bottom of the pan is becoming covered in brown specks and the color of the butter has turned from yellow to warm brown. The difference between brown butter and burnt butter (which is used in other recipes) is about 15 seconds. Set aside and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Whisk both flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon in another bowl set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat brown butter (or regular butter) and brown and white sugars until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl and beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and beat again.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, carefully so that flour gets mixed into dough. When flour is just mixed, oats, cranberries, and flax seeds.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out dough, separating them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Press down balls of cookie dough to help spreading process. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Printable recipe