These are easy-to-make shortbread cookies filled with festive flavors, and it melts in your mouth! If you are looking for a pretty and delicious Christmas cookie, you’ve found it. These Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies absolutely should make an appearance on your holiday cookie trays this year!
Cranberry + Orange = Perfect Combination
I love the combination of orange and cranberry. Not only it is delicious in cranberry orange bread, but it also makes a lovely cookie! They come out so sparkly that no one can resist them! My Son couldn’t stop raving about these cookies! And I love that they’re so easy to make and require very few ingredients no eggs, no baking powder, no baking soda – and very little time. Sometimes, the simplest recipes are the best. The orange zest provides a refreshing zing that is the perfect counterpart to tart cranberries. It’s a lovely combination! These eggless cranberry orange shortbread cookies are perfect Slice and Bake cookies. Simply mix up the dough and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (up to a few months in the freezer). Then slice and bake whenever you want a batch of fresh cookies. Perfect for guests during the busy holiday season or for wrapping up and giving as gifts.
Why you should make this recipe?
Eggless, no baking powder and baking soda requiredEasily customizable, you can play with flavorsit doesn’t require a cookie cutteryou can make these cookies in advance and freeze them for a month or even longer until you need them.
Ingredients Required
I love that there aren’t many ingredients needed to make this cranberry orange cookie recipe. You just need several of your classic baking ingredients and some seasonal ones. Very easy!
Vanilla Extract – I used vanilla extract for the flavors because vanilla-cranberry-orange is an incredible flavor profile. Vanilla adds to the rich buttery flavor. The almond extract works great too.Fresh Cranberries – fresh cranberries are in season, so I have used that. This is one case where I don’t recommend frozen because they will release too much moisture into the dough. You are more than welcome to use dried cranberries here instead of fresh ones.Orange Zest – because cranberries and oranges are a match made in heaven. Use Zest instead of juice because that’s where all the flavor is, and added liquid would harm the texture of the cookie. The zest of one orange will be plenty.Butter – Please, use only real butter, not margarine. This recipe will not work with margarine. Make sure to use room-temperature butter. Neither melted nor frozen. The butter has to be soft to the touch.Flour – I have tried this cookie recipe with Only all-purpose flour (came out amazing)with whole wheat flour (didn’t like the taste)And with 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose flour. (they were good)Sugar – You can use brown sugar or white sugar.
Step-by-step process Orange Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
Prep work
Finely chop the cranberries and set aside.Line 9×13 inch baking tray with parchment paper and keep it aside.
Let’s make cookies
Using a hand beater, food processor, or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar really well until light and creamy. The sugar should be completely mixed in the butter.Then add vanilla extract and zest. Mix everything for about a minute, a really well-using hand beater.
Now add fresh chopped cranberries and flour. Mix everything.Take everything onto your clean work surface, and bring it together with your hands. Work it just until it is no longer crumbly.
Take a cling wrap, and place the dough on a wrap. Cover the dough and form it into a 12-inch log, using the plastic to smooth out the dough and help form your log. The longer your log, the smaller your cookies will be. Wrap the log in plastic. Twist the ends tight to seal.Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C.)Slice the dough into ¼ inch thick slices and place on the cookie sheet, a few centimeters apart. I got 23 cookies from this much dough.
Bake for 15 minutes at @350 degrees F., or slightly longer if you like your cookie crisper. They will be pale on top and just turn golden on the bottom. Note: If your cookies are smaller or thinner than mine, they may take less time to cook.Once baked, take them out from the oven, let them cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets, and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Be careful. The cookies are soft and delicate when hot and will firm up as they cool.Store it in an air-tight container. it stays fresh for up to 10 days.
Never crush the cranberries for this recipe. Only slice into thin slices.Be sure to start with room-temperature butter. Soft butter will incorporate into the flour to form a dough, whereas cold butter won’t. Shortbread cookies do not contain eggs or any other extra liquid, so this is important to form a dough.Be sure to bring your dough together completely – you don’t want any dry flour or crumbly bits left. You can use a food processor to bring the dough together.Be sure to chill the dough for at least two hours. If the dough gets warm, it is much harder to cut them, and it won’t hold its shape.Be sure to slice them all the same thickness. If you slice some thinner than others, the thinner ones will get brown and crunchy. I prefer to slice them a little on the thicker side, about ¼ inch thick, because they stay a bit softer. You can also control the texture by how long you bake the cookies. I suggest baking one or two first as a test. I like mine melt-in-my-mouth tender, but you might like your crispier.Baking time will vary from oven to oven and how thick or thin you sliced them.
Flavor variations
First of all, if you’re looking to please a crowd, These are the perfect cookies. You can leave these plain or, instead of cranberry and orange, add in nuts, dried fruit, lemon zest, extracts, or ground nuts. You wouldn’t believe how many famous cookie recipes you can make with these slice-and-bake style shortbread dough at their base. Instead of cranberry orange combination, you can try
Orange and pistachiocranberry and pistachio (or any nut of your choice)Walnuts and chocolate chipsRose and cardamomRose and PistachioYou can dip these cranberry orange shortbread cookies in white or milk chocolate and garnish them with nut powder or rose petals. So much fun!
Try this recipe and add these easy shortbread cookies to your holiday baking list this season!
Some more Holiday Recipes
Christmas sangriaMexican Stromboli WreathChristmas FloatChristmas antipasti cheese ball
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