Sometimes ingredients just beg to be together. These three have been in my pantry, asking to be made into a cookie.

Chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and walnuts-what a great combination! Mr. Quaker Oats wanted to be in on the fun too, so I took the recipe for Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the lid of my Quaker Oats canister and modified it a bit. Well,  maybe I took quite a few liberties with what is already a yummy classic.

They were fabulous! Creamy chocolate, sweet-with-a-bit-of-tang cranberries and toasted walnuts make every bite of these cookies delicious. Oh yes, and pumpkin spice too! There’s  different textures too- soft chocolate, chewy cranberries, and crunchy walnuts, all in one cookie.

You will need:

1/2 cup + 6 Tablespoons of softened butter, 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked), 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup of walnuts.

So much yumminess!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat sugars and butter until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Add the pumpkin puree. Wisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together, then add to the batter.

By this point, your oven is probably preheated and you have to get the cookie sheets out anyway, so why not toast those walnuts? Put them on the cookie sheet and set the timer at 3 minutes. Mine took 4 minutes to get a light brown color, but definitely check on them after 3 minutes. You want them toasted, not roasted.

See how they are light brown? Take them off the cookie sheet to cool while you mix the chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the dough.

I had 2 bags of white chocolate chips with little random amounts left. They were bugging me. What can you do with a random amount (1/2 cup) of white chocolate chips? Toss them in too, of course!

Wow, these are going to be spectacular. Better get a glass of milk into the freezer now!

Mix in the cooled walnuts and place by rounded tablespoonfuls (or use a cookie dough scoop) on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Hmmm, better smush those down a bit, these cookies are stuffed with mix-ins. Bake from 8-10 minutes. I like my chocolate chip cookies to be pretty soft, but with these I waited until the centers weren’t glossy before I took them out of the oven.

Cool on tray for a minute, then transfer to wire rack. Put your second batch in, set the timer, grab that glass of milk from the freezer, and enjoy some spectacular cookies!

This is supposed to make 4 dozen. This number is highly variable, depending on how big you tend to make your cookie dough scoops. My scoops are pretty big, so I just made 3 dozen.

These are just the thing to make your house smell homey and warm and to chase away the winter blues! Spring is coming!

What do you think-can I eat these for breakfast too?