Creaming the butter and sugar: If you’re using a stand mixer, attach the paddle. If you’re mixing by hand, grab a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon. Add 3/4 cup softened butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 3/8 cup white sugar to your bowl. Mix until the mixture is well-creamed and light in texture—I like to take it a little extra fluffy here for that perfectly domed cookie. Once creamed, add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, then continue mixing until everything is fully combined and the mixture is light and airy again.
Gently stir in: Add 1¼ teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and ½ teaspoon salt to the bowl and mix just until combined. Then, very gently fold in 3 cups of all-purpose flour—do not overmix! Finally, add 3/4 cup white wafers and 3/4 cup dried cranberries and give the dough one last gentle stir. Overmixing at this stage can make the cookies tough, so stop as soon as everything looks evenly distributed.
Options:Chill the dough in the bowl, then scoop and bake later.Scoop the dough now, refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or longer), then bake.Scoop the dough now, freeze, and bake straight from frozen when you’re ready.We’ve found that freezing the dough gives the cookies incredible flavor development—but it’s totally optional. We like to scoop the dough while it’s still soft (it’s much easier to work with), freeze the scoops overnight, and then bake. That said, you can absolutely scoop the warm dough, chill it for 30 minutes, and bake right away. Chilling or freezing not only deepens the flavor but also helps the cookies hold their shape, preventing spreading and giving you that perfectly domed, bakery-style look. Bake: These cookies bake quickly, so keep an eye on them! We like to pull ours when they reach an internal temperature of about 170°F. Bake on a parchment-lined half sheet pan at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Once baked, let the cookies cool right on the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. This helps them set up perfectly—soft and chewy in the center with that lovely slight crunch on the bottom.