These Sunflower Oatmeal Cookies will bring a bunch of sunshine to your day! Loaded with oatmeal, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, coconut and chocolate chips, your taste buds will thank you with every bite!
Our family dined at a little local cafe near our home a few weeks ago. When the waitress told us they offered cookies for dessert, we knew we couldn’t say no. The funny thing about dessert is that there always seems to be room for it. Don’t you agree?
I heard somewhere that there is a special compartment for dessert within the stomach. Truth! No matter how bloated I feel after a yummy satisfying meal, if dessert is available, I’m game!
So we all got a cookie to go and then headed home to enjoy them. I chose an oatmeal cookie, and it was fantastic. I noticed there were pecans and a few dried cranberries and chocolate chips in it. It was absolutely amazing! So I set out to recreate the cookie in my own kitchen. Of course I didn’t have pecans in my cupboards, but I found some sunflower seeds and then a little light bulb turned on.
Let me just tell you-sunflower seeds plus coconut plus dried cranberries plus chocolate chips plus oatmeal is the equation for total bliss!
I recently learned a trick for making fluffy cookies with lots of dimension. In the past, I’ve always softened my butter in my cookies, as you’ll notice in these phenomenal Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies, Banana Pudding Cookies and Lemon Lovers’ Dream Cookies. I make a habit of softening my butter when I make cookies and it’s always worked out great that way. But this time I creamed the butter by itself in the mixer to soften it up. I think it made for a great texture in the resulting cookie. And it helps the cookie not turn out flat.
The flavor of the sunflower seeds really shines in these cookies and it’s perfectly complemented by the dried cranberries and chocolate chips that are studded throughout.
Sunflower Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 c. COLD butter straight from the fridge
- 3/4 c. brown sugar packed
- 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 c. old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 c. coconut
- 1/2 c. roasted and salted sunflower kernels without shells
- 1/2 c. dried cranberries
- 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- Scant 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. chocolate chips dark or milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with nonstick baking mats or spray them lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the cold butter by itself on high speed for a few minutes, until it softens up and isn't lumpy.
- Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream well.
- Add vanilla extract and eggs and cream well.
- In a separate bowl, stir together old-fashioned oats, coconut, roasted sunflower kernels, dried cranberries, flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Add the mixture to the wet mixture and mix just until incorporated.
- Scoop dough into rounded 1 1/2" balls and place at least 2" apart on the cookie sheets. Press dough balls down with the palms of your hands to flatten. Bake for approximately 8-9 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before removing them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
I ate way too many of these! They’re simply delightful! I hope you enjoy them too!
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