Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery and easy-to-make cranberry orange cookies

Weekend baking inspiration! Cause there's not such a thing as too many cookie recipes during the holiday season!

These cookies are buttery and perfectly sweet. Filled with two of my seasonal favorite flavors: cranberries and orange. For this recipe, I use LOTS of finely grated orange peel (just the orange part) and dried cranberries chopped up. I recommend not using fresh cranberries because they would lose too much juice in the dough. I added one egg yolk to the dough, even though shortbread cookies normally don't ask for it. I find the result is softer and more flavorful. 

If you'd like, you can dip these cookies halfway into melted dark chocolate. Or like I did, you can dress them up with some simple white sparkling sugar. 

These are super easy and quick to make. The only time-consuming part is refrigerating the dough once it's ready. You roll it into a log and needs to be nice and cold so you can slice the cookies without ruining their shape. 

I like to bake these for about 13 to 14 minutes, so not enough for them to become crunchy, but barely golden just at the bottom edges. When you remove from the oven they will be super soft still. So let them cool for a few minutes to harden... I know I know! So hard to wait when all you need is a taste of this goodness :)

Happy Baking!

INGREDIENTS:

1. • YIELDS: 16 cookies

     • 4 oz (115 gr) unsalted butter, softened
     • 1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
     • 2 orange zest, finely grated
     • 1 large egg yolk
     • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
     • pinch salt
     • 1 1/3 cup (160 gr) all-purpose flour
     • 1/3 cup chopped dry cranberries
     • sparkling sugar to decorate, optional

PREPARATION:

TIME: 20 minutes plus 1 hour inactive

In a large bowl, add the butter cut into cubes, sugar, and orange zest. Cream with a mixer.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Add the salt and flour and mix until combined. NOTE: Make sure to measure the flour properly and don't over mix. If needed,  add a teaspoon or two of milk.

Fold in the cranberries. Knead with your hand if needed until the dough comes together.  

Move onto the counter on a piece of plastic wrap. Make into a log about 1.75 to 2 inches in diameter, about 8 to 9 inches long. Wrap in the plastic and refrigerate for one hour or longer.

Preheat the oven to 325F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. If one side of the log is flat, roll it a little to make it round again. Cut the log into cookies about 1/3 inch thick with a sharp knife

Set the cookies on the baking sheet, sprinkle with sparkling sugar on both sides if you'd like to.

Bake for about 14 minutes, until barely golden at the bottom edges. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes to harden. And enjoy!

PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD: Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

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