Slivers of toasted almonds, chunks of Old Gold dark chocolate, and dried cranberries help to make this slightly-crumbly-almost-shortbread-like cookie recipe worth keeping on hand...

This latte mug found at Bob Boutique, Bendigo.

Remember last year when my sister introduced me to these amazing salted caramel and dark chocolate cookies? That same day she made these Cranberry & Choc-Chip Vegan Cookies...and I didn't think it would be possible to be torn between the two...I mean salted caramel right?!

Turns out I was wrong, these ones won me over as well. Now, they would be vegan if you used vegan chocolate according to the original recipe. I'm not vegan so I went with my standard favourite...Cadbury Old Gold Original Dark Chocolate. The original recipe also didn't include cranberries, but my sister throws them in for some natural sugar. So, the fact that they have potential to be vegan...and no butter...means you might feel like an extra one could be warranted minus the cookie-guilt :)

Cranberry & Choc-Chip Vegan (or not) Cookies

2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
generous sprinkle of cinnamon to taste
vegan chocolate (or own favourite dark chocolate)
handful of toasted almonds or hazelnuts, roughly chopped
2/3 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract or essence
1/4 cup water

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, choc bits, nuts & cranberries.

In another bowl mix sugar, oil, vanilla and water. Sugar won’t completely dissolve but mix it together as much as you can.

Combine the wet and dry mixtures together until you have a nice cookie dough. Mine felt a little bit crumbly at this stage but I added little bits of oil and water until I got the consistency I wanted. Basically you want to be able to shape a little cookie ball in your hands without it falling apart...and as you smoosh it together, it should hold.

Spoon little balls of the mixture onto a greased tray, lightly press down with a fork or place a piece of nut or chocolate on top.

Bake in a moderate oven for about 8-10 minutes or until just lightly golden.

Cool on wire racks, but...

...be sure to taste at least one before they fully cool so you get the melty chocolate experience. Glass of cold milk on the side is a must :)