OCC Cookies (Oats/Chocolate/Cranberry)

OCC....hmmm, what does that bring to mind in some of you?  Choppers?  Like in Orange County Choppers?  Fortunately for me there are no chopper or other motorcycle parts in these delicious cookies and no "Choppers were harmed in the making of these".  I like the acronym vs. the entire words anyway.  Besides, if you say the whole title of the cookie you end up wasting half of your day instead of getting these into the oven.  So, OCC is what I am calling these.
This morning I took a nice walk with my pal Ernie, not the same Ernest who went to camp however, Ernie and I did meet at camp in the 6th grade.  Ironic, eh?  OK, OK back to the point.  During the walk I asked him if he had the recipe for a really terrific cookie he concocted late last year and unfortunately he didn't.  He mentioned it was a combination of a few different cookies and he just slapped it together.  All I can say is, that cookie he made was pure heaven.  Slap it together, slap leather, slap a knot on your head, slap shot, slap me on the ass.....it was good and I just had to figure out how to make something similar, but with a Jim twist.  Hence, the OCC Cookie is born and here is what I did.

My Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/14 cup pack light brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter (room temperature)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups quaker oats
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

My Method:
I put my chocolate chips in the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to starting to make them nice and hard.  I put the cup of chips in the food processor and chopped them into little pieces (about 30 seconds of pulse chops).  Remove the chips and set aside.  Repeat the same process for the cranberries and then again for the walnuts.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl combine your flour, baking soda and salt, whisk together and set aside.  In another bowl combine your brown sugar, granulated sugar, oats, cranberries, walnuts and chocolate chips and mix well with your hand or a large whisk or spoon.  Set aside.
I use a stand mixer for all of my baking but a hand mixer will work for this job if you are diligent and have strong wrists.
In your mixer add your butter and start mixing until creamy, then slowly add in your nuts and berries mixture.  When all of the berry nut mixture is added, drop in your 2 eggs, milk and vanilla extract.  Mix well and then slowly add in your flour mixture.  Mix on medium to high speed until well combined.  If using a stand mixer, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides to ensure a great mix of the ingredients.  Mix for about 90 seconds.

NOTE:  I use "Air Bake" cookie sheets because I feel they work the best and they do not burn the bottoms of cookies, however you can use any cookie sheet you like for these.
Now, drop rounded tablespoon size portions of your cookie dough onto your cookie sheets.  Bake them in the oven for 12-13 minutes.

I found in my oven 12 minutes on the air bake sheets was perfect.  When the cookies are done, let them rest on the sheets for about 6-7 minutes and then cool on baking racks.

These cookies are not so sweet they give you a sugar shake and not dry and hard as to break your teeth into little fragments.  They are moist, sweet and tangy.  

DELICIOUS !!!