Cranberries, almonds, white chocolate...oh my!

I made a batch of cookies this past weekend and surprised myself with the results.  I started with the recipe for "Apricot Almond White Chocolate Chip Cookies" from Dede Wilson's A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

The bad news?  I was fresh out of apricots.  The good news?  I had plenty of dried cranberries on hand.

And the result?  Delicious!  The cranberries were a nice change of pace and the tartness was easily balanced by the white chocolate.  The red cranberries were quite festive. 

If you're looking to kick your cookie recipes up a notch this holiday season, try throwing some cranberries in there.  Use them in place of raisins for oatmeal raisin cookies, or add them to a blondie recipe.  Be creative, and enjoy!