Cranberry Cream Cheese Oatmeal Cookies

My next cookie recipe comes from a blog that I found through Anna. It's called the Oatmeal Cookie Guy and he comes up with all kinds of cool recipes for oatmeal cookies. This one is a SLIGHT adaptation on his Golden Girls cookies. The cookie has the taste of a graham cracker base for cheesecake and then it's filled with a sweetened cream cheese filling. I added cranberries to make it more Christmas-y. Now, these were DELICIOUS....but....filling the cookies was a bit difficult. I told someone that they were wonderful but I'd probably only make these specific ones again if a certain couple of people asked me! Maybe Mrs. Snowman will keep making them for Mr. Snowman, because it appears that they enjoyed them as well! I will, however, continue looking at Oatmeal Guy for more recipes! For a very well organized recipe that is easy to follow, go here.

Holiday Golden Girls adapted from the Oatmeal Guy

Filling:
8 ounces room-temperature cream cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Creamables:
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups finely ground graham crackers
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Add the filling ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well. Let the mixture cool and solidify in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350º. Cream together the creamables. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined. Shape dough into balls—about 2 tablespoons each. Remove the filling mixture from the refrigerator and stuff each dough ball with 1 teaspoon of the mixture. Do this by flattening your ball of dough and placing the cream cheese in the center. Then fold over the dough to reform into a ball. Put the stuffed dough balls in the freezer for five minutes to firm up. Place about 2 inches apart on baking stone or Silpat/parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.