• 2 1/2 cups King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup salted softened butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups rolled or old-fashioned oats
  • 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
  • 1 package white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup walnuts, toasted, optional

The FN (Food Network) Dish is hosting a Virtual Cookie Swap! Several FN Dish contributors, myself included, are sharing their favorite Christmas cookie recipes this week with everyone. What could be more comforting and tasty than Oatmeal Cookies? How about Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies? These cookies are great because they can be made ahead of time, popped into the freezer and taken out the day you want to eat them! Whether wrapped in a Christmas tin, bagged up in cellophane or placed in a pretty bowl, who will be the fortunate recipient of these cookies this Christmas season?

Be sure to scroll down to see the thoughtful tips for cookie giving and my favorite recipes of the season including my Peanut Butter Banana Dog Biscuits for the special canine in your life!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, eggs and pure vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

Add your dry mixture to the wet ingredients and blend well. Add the raw oats and stir until well blended. Stir in the dried cranberries, one cup of white chocolate chips, dried fruit and nuts. With your hands, roll cookie dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute.

Tip: With most cookies, do not cook them all the way through. Cookies will continue to harden once they are taken out of the oven. This is the secret to the perfect cookie!

Once the cookies have cooled completely, melt your white chocolate in the microwave on in a double boiler and dip one side of the cookie in it. Place on parchment or wax paper until they harden.

Here are some thoughtful ways you can give your Christmas cookies as a gift

1. Fortunately tins come in all shapes and sizes. You can even choose tins that match your cookies! Instead of filling our tins with paper, the boys and I are filling some of our Christmas tins this year with red and green jelly beans and then placing our cookies on top.

2. Pretty glass bowls filled with Christmas cookies like my friends at Delish have done here make such a nice gift! Who wouldn’t love a pretty glass bowl with homemade cookies in it? You can also use other types of bowls, special holiday trays and plates to give cookies away in!

3. Instead of only giving baked cookies at Christmastime, I sometimes wrap different types of cookie dough in parchment paper, wrap the ends with colorful ribbon and include a cookie cutter! There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked cookies! I love Southern Living’s idea. Print your favorite cookie recipe and baking instructions on white paper or vellum. Tie it around a frozen log of dough wrapped in parchment for an easy Christmas gift.

4.Boxes of course… this box also includes hot cocoa. Holiday tea bags would be nice, too!

5. Baskets are great to store cookies. It’s thoughtful to choose a basket that can be used year long!

6. Whether you use Glass Jars to store cookies in

or use them to give away a cookie mix

glass jars make a great gift!

7. Last, but certainly not least, a Cookie Jar, is the perfect item to store cookies in as a gift!

Here are some of my all-time favorite holiday cookies:

Fudgy Bonbons

Ginger Cookies

The Perfect Sugar Cookie

Biscotti

Perfect Time for Cut-Out Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Don’t forget your canine friends…try my Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits!

Be sure to check out all of the other cookie recipes shared by my friends and join the conversation by leaving a comment here, #pullupachair on Twitter, on facebook and on the Food Network. Time for you to share these recipes with your friends and family! Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What’s Gaby Cooking: Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies
CIA Dropout: Walnut Wimpy Balls
And Love It Too: Snowball Cookies (Grain-Free, Dairy-Free and Vegan)
Taste With The Eyes: Olive Oil Oatmeal Cookies (pictured above)
Jones Is Hungry: A Cookie for Chocolate Lovers
From My Corner of Saratoga: Gooey Butter Cookies
The Sensitive Epicure: Speculaas Dutch Windmill Cookies
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Salted Chocolate & Dulce de Leche Fudge
Virtually Homemade: Chocolate Mint Snowballs
Sweet Life Bake: Polvorones de Chocolate
Daily*Dishin: Cherry Topped Cream-Drop Cookies
FN Dish: Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Bacon Cookies
Thursday Night Dinner: Peppermint Bark Cookies
Dishin and Dishes: Pecan Sandie Thumbprints With Cherry Frosting
Mooshu Jenne: Biscotti
Cooking With Elise: Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies