Adding pears to cookies is easy when you use dried fruit – like in these Pear and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies!
Happiest of new years to all of you, my readers! I hope 2015 brings you lots of great things including a little bit of inspiration to create something new every day – even if it’s just something tiny. A little flower doodled in the corner of a notebook will do it!
Let’s talk about 2015 for a minute.
Not being a very good resolution maker, I prefer goals. Cuz you can make goals small or big or in between and you can do them in little increments. And if you have a bad day you can just try again tomorrow and work your way there. It’s more of process. Resolutions always sound so…resolute!
So the good news, I’m in a much happier place at the start of 2015 than I was at the start of 2014. The year ended on a bit of a rocky note but hopefully that’s a temporary glitch and overall I feel pretty happy, thankful and positive about things.
A big part of what made 2014 happier for me was getting to travel much more than I have in past years. When I quit my job in 2010, a big part of the reason was I wanted to have the freedom to work wherever I could get an internet connection and a good cup of tea. But unexpected family reasons put that on hold until recently and the last half of 2014 presented several opportunities be be on the move and I loved it!
So one of my big 2015 goals is to do more of that and I’ve already got a few things in the works and even booked! Nothing major – just a week working here, a week working there with some weekends thrown in to sight-see.
One of my other big 2015 goals is to take time every day to create – just for me. Whether it’s with a camera, a marker, a spatula, scissors or a keyboard.
For the last five years I have been creative on demand for clients, which I love. But being creative on demand is far far different from creating because the mood strikes you or because you feel like it. No matter how much you love it, creating on deadline and to a client’s taste is work. It requires a never-ending well of inspiration that you need to fill up regularly. And if you don’t it runs dry and you burn out.
For me a big part of replenishing the well is taking time for my own creative projects where I can do whatever the hell I want. Doing that is incredibly soothing and almost meditative for me.
It’s also about making time to gather up inspiration from others who create, from reading more, from traveling and seeing new scenery and new experiences.
So I hope to take an hour each day to fill that well, either by creating for myself or by taking time to find creative inspiration from other sources. That’s my goal anyway!
There’s lots of other goals for 2015 but I’m sharing those two because they apply directly to this blog. Eyes Bigger is going through a redesign (again.. I know.. it’s what designers do! I can’t help it!). The focus will be split between Food, Photography, and My Creative Life (oh.. hello… that’s been my tagline since 2010!!).
More coming on that when the new site launches but don’t worry… there will still be lots and lots of food!
In the meantime, I bring you cookies. Because cookies are my comfort food of choice – both to make and to eat. They are what I like to curl up with when I’m making notes and plotting and planning and dreaming and scheming for the future. (who doesn’t like a good scheme?)
These ones are packed with dried pears and cranberries, with crunchy Hershey Chipits toffee bits and chocolate chips. The dried fruit has an intense flavour but the sweet pears and tart cranberries complement each other nicely! And oatmeal adds to the homey comfort feel of a homemade cookie! The recipe was inspired by the Pomegranate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies I made a few years ago from Two Peas and Their Pod.
I hope you’ve been dreaming and scheming for the new year – feel free to share your plans in the comments. And in the meantime… enjoy!
- ½ cup butter (at room temp)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips
- ½ cup toffee bits
- ½ cup chopped dried pear slices
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- Preheat your oven to 375F
- Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until fluffy and smooth (I used a stand mixer)
- Add in egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined
- In a separate bowl sift or whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt)
- Slowly add dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just combined
- Stir in oats, chocolate, toffee and fruit (I prefer to do this step by hand with a wooden spoon than with a mixer)
- Form dough into tablespoonful sized balls and place on parchement or silpat lined cookie sheets - give the cookies room to spread while baking.
- Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden (mine took about 15 but I have a slow oven).
- Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack
I don’t know why I have never thought to put pear in cookies before! What a brilliant idea Melissa, love these!
Thanks Jax – I always forget about pears and I don’t know why – they add such a great flavour!
Whoa Melissa these cookies look amazing! What a large variety of delicious ingredients. I have never seen dried pears before. Did you make them, or get them in stores?
Thanks Candice. The pears were actually a gift along with some dried peaches (which were amazing). I would think you could make them pretty easily just like you would with dried apple chips in the oven.