Shortbread cookies are some of the easiest cookies to make at home, and these cranberry orange ones are perfect for the winter season! These are so buttery and melt-in-your-mouth good. If you don’t like shortbread, try underbaking them by just a couple of minutes – it’ll prevent them from becoming dry and overbaked. These cookies last a long time, too – if you can keep yourself from eating them all!
Orange Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (320g)
- 16 tbsp unsalted butter, room temp (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (60g)
- 2-3 oranges
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugars, and 1 tbsp of fresh orange zest from the oranges (make more than 1 tbsp, as you can use extra for sprinkling on the completed cookies). Once light and fluffy, add the egg yolks and the vanilla, and mix until combined, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula as necessary.
- With the mixer on slow, slowly add in the flour and salt, only just until the dough comes together, you don't want to over mix!
- Add the chopped dried cranberries, and stop once everything is evenly mixed.
- Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter, and with a dough scraper or a spatula, scoop out half the dough onto the plastic wrap. With your hands, shape it roughly into a log about 8" long, and then roll it up in the plastic wrap, rolling it back and forth to get the log nice and round, it should be a little less than 2" in diameter. Repeat for the second half of the dough. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours, but you can wait up to 3-4 days if you choose.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Once the oven is hot, remove one half of the dough from the fridge, and with a sharp knife gently slice the dough into cookies, ~1/3" thick. Make sure you're sawing back and forth with the knife instead of just pushing, our you'll tear the dough, and go slowly!
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment (they won't spread much at all). Sprinkle them with extra sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, just until the edges are barely starting to turn golden brown. If you prefer a softer shortbread cookie, pull them out just before the edges brown.
- When the cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle them with more sugar, and then let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- Optionally, sprinkle the cookies with more fresh orange zest before serving for that extra orange flavor!
- Enjoy!
