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!
