Chewy oatmeal cookies packed with crunchy pecans, a hint of caramel and toffee, and crisp edges.

Nothing brings me greater pleasure than having a warm cookie. It's like sunshine on a plate :) As much as I love my favourite go-to brown butter chocolate chunk cookies, I decided to switch it up with some oatmeal cookies. And I'm not complaining (duh).

These cookies start off the same way- with brown butter. I really love the depth of flavour that brown butter brings to these cookies- it's sort of that toffee, caramel-like flavour that really complements the brown sugar (which other than adding flavour, lends the cookie that signature chewy texture). I guess you could just melt the butter and the texture of the cookie won't quite change, but the brown butter really adds a little something special to an otherwise ordinary cookie. You could play safe and just brown the butter a little, but I like going all the way right on the edge of burning butter. There's a couple of stages to getting brown butter- first you'll see it melt and splutter and bubble, then the bubbling fades and the butter darkens quite a bit. You might see little black sediments at the bottom of the pot, but that's okay. It'll all get lost in the cookie in the end.

Of course, like any other great cookie, you could use raisins instead of cranberries and walnuts instead of pecans. Or dark chocolate chunks- which would melt into pockets of warm, goey pools of bittersweet bliss in the cookie. Don't forget the sprinkling of sea salt in the end though- it really seals the deal.

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

200g butter, cut into cubes
100g white sugar
150 dark brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
1 whole egg
125g all purpose flour
130g rolled oats
60g dried cranberries
60g pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground

In a deep saucepan, brown the butter till a deep golden brown. Set aside to cool while you combine the dry ingredients.
Toss the sugars, salt, vanilla and eggs into the slightly cooled butter, then stir in the dry ingredients.
Use the cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough into even mounds on a lined baking sheet. Chill at least 1 hour, or up to a week, or freeze for up to a few months.
Sprinkle with sea salt before baking, bake cold at 190 degrees Celsius for 8-11 minutes till lightly golden at the edges.