Autumn Recipe: Chocoblock Cookies

Good morning, everyone! Are you ready for dessert?

I'm quite excited about this recipe share. For one thing, this is the first cookie I can say is entirely my own; no recipe followed, created purely from years and years of baking knowledge (and baking failures -- believe me, there were some big ones!)

Second, I have managed to channel my top three cookie components into a single specimen. These little guys are teeming with texture, crisp around the edges (yet gently yielding in chewiness), and aren't terribly over-buttered or -sugared.

Third, I can finally say I've made something worthy of sharing. That means I deserve to name it after myself, right?

Rachel's Chockablock Cookies

Ingredients

-1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
-1 tsp baking soda 
-1 generous shake each of cinnamon and ground ginger
-1 less-generous shake of salt (about 1/4 tsp)
-1/2 c. Earth Balance original buttery spread (You can go full butter if you want to, but I promise this stuff satisfies.)
-1/2 c. dark brown sugar (Leave that white stuff ON THE SHELF!)
-1 egg
-1 generous splash of vanilla (about 1 tsp)
-1/2 c. rolled oats (Not the instant kind, now -- the good, hearty kind you cook on the stove.)
-1/4 c. chocolate chips
-1/4 c. orange-flavored cranberries (Purchasable at your local Trader Joe's dried fruit section!)
-1/4 c. sweetened coconut flakes
-1/4 c. roughly-chopped walnuts (Keep 'em chunky!)

Instructions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with silicone mats, butter, or spray for easy removal.
2) In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.)
3) In a second larger-sized bowl, combine butter/substitute of choice and brown sugar. Blend with hand mixer or stirring-utensil-of-choice until light and fluffy -- or, you know, the best you can do with a spoon. Add egg and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated.
4) Slowly add the flour mixture to your wet mixture, folding until combined.
5) Add oats, chocolate chips, cranberries, coconut flakes, and walnuts all at once. Fold evenly into the dough. (If you're not using a mixer, you may have to knead with your hands at this point.)
6) Prep the dough into little balls, about two inches wide. Place on prepped cookie sheet and press down slightly, so they'll spread more easily.
7) Set tray in oven on whatever rack you want. Cook until the sides are crisp and golden. (In my oven this took precisely 14 minutes.)
8) Remove and let cool. Or don't let cool -- that's cool too. The point is, you have delicious cookies now, and you get to eat them. 
You're welcome.