These vegan chunky cranberry and white chocolate cookies are perfect for sharing with loved ones over the Thanksgiving, Festive and Holiday seasons.
Each tasty cookie bite is packed with classic fruity cranberry and creamy white chocolate flavours.
These chunky large soft cookies are easy to prepare in one bowl, don't need to be refrigerated before baking, and quickly bake in just 14 minutes saving valuable electric or gas fuel.
Quickly whip up a tasty batch of home-made white chocolate and cranberry cookies to share with loved ones and bring some holiday cheer to friends and work colleagues.
These chunky vegan cookies are also perfect for Thanksgiving and festive cookie platters, bake sales, North Pole breakfasts, Christmas Eve hot cocoas, and I'm pretty sure Santa will love one or two with their plant milk!
How to prepare vegan chunky cranberry and white chocolate cookies
These delicious chunky cookies are easy to prepare and quick to bake. There is no need to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking.
First, add the vegan margarine, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar and vanilla to a mixing bowl.
Use either an electric hand whisk or a mixing spoon to cream the ingredients together.
Next, add the apple sauce or apple puree [the pinkish ingredient above is apple puree which is simply cooked and blended apples].
Mix the apple sauce and plant milk into the creamed margarine.
Sieve the plain flour and baking powder into the bowl.
Sprinkle in the salt, and add the vegan white chocolate pieces and dried cranberries.
Give it all a good mix.
Scoop 12 cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet.
Bake for 14 minutes.
Once cookies are firm enough to lift cool on a wire rack.
Recipe notes
Storage
Cookies will keep fresh for up to 5-7 days if stored within a cookie tin or jar, or wrapped in kitchen foil and stored within a covered food container.
Cookies can be frozen for 4-6 months, well wrapped to avoid freezer burn. These cookies defrost quickly so pull out one or two about an hour before eating.
Any vegan white chocolate is fine for cookies, either a chocolate bar or chocolate drops/chips.
Moo Free a chocolate supplier, produce white chocolate bars, white chocolate buttons, and white chocolate baking drops, that can be found in many supermarkets, online stores, and health shops/wholefood stores.
We used the white chocolate bars which was a good choice as it coped well with being baked into cookies and tasted great.
Have a look around your local supermarkets or grocery stores as many do their own versions of vegan chocolate such as Sainsbury's Freefrom white chocolate bar which at time of typing was 50p for a 35gram bar. 
Of course, feel free to use whatever type or flavour of vegan chocolate that you have to hand for cookies. If using a bar of vegan chocolate simply break it up into smaller chunks.
Absolutely. If preferred sub out the cranberries for a similar dried fruit such as sultanas [golden raisins], goji berries, dried blueberries, dried cherries, or raisins.
If a larger dried fruit is used such as dried apricots or dates, then simply slice into smaller pieces similar to the size of a raisin.
Alternatively, candied or glace cherries could be used instead of cranberries.
Any type of apple sauce that you have available is fine for cookies. If your apple sauce is a chunky version or is made up of small pieces of cubed apples then it may be best to puree the sauce into a smoother sauce, so that the texture of the cookies is retained.
No special apple sauce needs to be sourced as regular apple sauce that is intended for use with savoury meat dishes, such as Colemans apple sauce, is perfectly fine for vegan baking.
Also, many wholefood or health stores carry jars of apple puree that is just 100% apples, and is ideal for baking. The image below is a 700gram jar of apple puree that cost about £2.20 from our local health shop.
Alternatively, prepare some home-made apple sauce by simply stewing chopped apples with a few tablespoons of water until they are really soft. Mash the apples with a potato masher or puree with an immersion blender. Freeze any extra apple sauce in ice cube trays or one tablespoon portions, and then once frozen pop out the cubes and keep in a freezer bag. When a few tablespoons of apple sauce are required for a recipe simply pull out a few cubes to defrost.
More vegan Thanksgiving, Festive and Holiday baking treats:
The best ever traditional fruit loaf cake
Old-fashioned walnut cookies [or hickory nut]
Cherry, cranberry and chocolate refrigerator bake
World War two era Christmas pudding [prepare in the microwave]
Three ingredient Christmas cake
These vegan cookies are deliciously soft and chewy with slightly sticky and melty insides, if munched soon after cooling!
Recipe
Chunky Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies [vegan]
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
- parchment paper
- sieve
- electric hand whisk or a wooden spoon/mixing spoon
- small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon
Ingredients
- 90 gram vegan margarine [such as Stork baking spread]
- 75 gram granulated sugar
- 55 gram dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoon apple sauce [or apple puree/cooked mashed apples or blend the cubed apple sauce from shop-bought jars]
- 2 tablespoon soya milk [or your usual milk]
- 225 gram plain flour [all-purpose flour]
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 100 gram vegan white chocolate [broken into pieces/or use white chocolate drops/chips]
- 90 gram dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 Fan/ 180C / 356 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.
- Line the cookie sheet or baking tray with parchment paper.
- Add the margarine, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Using an electric hand whisk or a mixing spoon whip the ingredients until they are creamed together.90 gram vegan margarine, 75 gram granulated sugar, 55 gram dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- Add the apple sauce and milk and whisk some more until combined. If mixing by hand the mixture may look curdled but it will be fine. A hand whisk reduces the likelihood of the mixture splitting.2 tablespoon apple sauce, 2 tablespoon soya milk
- Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl on top of the creamed mixture. Sprinkle in the salt.225 gram plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 pinch salt
- Add the white chocolate pieces along with the dried cranberries.100 gram vegan white chocolate, 90 gram dried cranberries
- Using a mixing spoon stir all the ingredients together. Make sure that all the flour has been mixed thoroughly.
- Scoop up a cookie ball with an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon and drop onto the baking sheet, leaving at least an inch between each cookie.
- Each cookie will weigh between 50-60 grams.
- If the cookie balls are messy just use a teaspoon to gently smooth the edges more into ball shape. Don't press the cookie balls down as they are supposed to be chunky.
- Bake for 14 minutes on the middle shelf. [if using a fan oven check the cookies at the 12 minute mark as fan ovens tend to bake faster]
- Cookies will be set and firm to the touch but don't press to hard as they will still be soft inside. The cookies will firm up more as they cool. When just out of the oven the cookies may look a bit puffed up but as they cool they will settle down but will still be chunky.
- Leave the cookies on the baking tray to cool for about 15-20 minutes or until they are easy to lift up and transfer to a wire rack.
Notes
- Nutritional information is for guidance only and is not an exact calculation as ingredients can vary.
- Store cookies in a cookie jar or tin, or within a food container wrapped in kitchen foil or parchment paper for up to 5-7 days.
- Or freeze for 4-6 months.
- Dried cranberries can be replaced with raisins, sultanas, goji berries, dried blueberries, or other dried fruits. Although do chop any large pieces of dried fruit such as apricots or dates.
- Not a fan of vegan white chocolate or can't source any? Simply replace with any vegan chocolate that you have. Or replace with chopped nuts.
- Stork baking spread was used for these cookies.
- Moo Free white chocolate bars was used for these cookies.
- Any shop-bought apple sauce or puree from a jar or tub is fine for this recipe. If your apple sauce is chunky or has cubed apple pieces then use an immersion blender to smooth the sauce out. Or mash well with a potato masher.
- Home-made apple sauce can be used. Simply chop eating/dessert apples into small pieces and cook with a few tablespoons of water until soft. Mash until smooth or blend.
Nutrition
Prepared these tasty chunky vegan white chocolate and cranberry cookies?
Do let us know how you got on with the recipe.
Leave us a comment below and click the star ratings.
Thanks so much, Jacq x
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