Don’t you just love the smell of holiday baking in your kitchen? We do, and we love the taste even more! These cranberry orange cookies are one of our favorite holiday desserts to whip up in the kitchen.
These buttery cookies are flavored with orange zest and cinnamon, and have sweet and tart cranberries swirled into the dough. They truly smell and taste like the holidays. You could whip these cranberry orange cookies for Thanksgiving or Christmas; the ingredients in them make them appropriate for either holiday.
We love the slightly crisp yet chewy texture of these cookies, which makes them a bit like a cross between a sugar cookie and shortbread cookie. While the original recipe contained nuts, we kept the nuts out in favor of a truly vibrant and fruity cookie.
These cranberry orange cookies do not take long to bake, but they do need time to chill in the fridge. It’s the only way you’ll be able to slice the cookie dough into neat rounds that will bake into your traditional cookie shape.
We love making a batch of these cranberry orange cookies and wrapping them in cellophane with a beautiful bow as a scrumptious hostess gift or holiday gift to neighbors.
Summary |
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Cook time: 10 minutes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Idle time: 3 hours
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Level
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Servings:
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Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- For the Filling
- 1 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp orange zest
Instructions
- To make the dough, add the butter and sugar to a large bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add in the vanilla, eggs, and orange zest, then mix again to combine.
- To the batter, add the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Mix again until everything is incorporated.
- Divide the dough into clumps, placing each clump on a sheet of plastic. Wrap each clump of dough in the plastic, then flatten out the dough so that you're left with two wrapped discs of cookie dough. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, making the filling by adding the cranberries, sugar, and orange zest to a food processor. Pulse until everything's chopped and mixed together.
- Roll out one chilled disc of dough so that it measures 10" by 14".
- Add half of the filling on top of the rectangle, leaving a 1/2" border clear. Roll the dough into a log (like you would a cinnamon roll), then wrap the log in plastic and chill. Repeat the past couple of steps with the second disc of dough. Chill both logs for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Slice the dough logs into 1/4" wide slices and place a couple inches apart from each other on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, then let them bake on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Additional information
Recipe adapted from beyondthechickencoop.com
