Buttery, soft cranberry orange shortbread cookies coated in almonds perfectly highlights the flavors of tart cranberries and zesty orange with a nice crunch from almonds.
Cranberry orange is one of those classic flavor pairings that I find simply irresistible. I am always eager to find new ways to experiment with this flavor combination and this time it was in cookies! Rolled in sliced almonds, the fresh, zesty flavor of oranges nicely compliments the natural tartness from the cranberries in these buttery, soft cranberry orange shortbread cookies. If you are looking for a fun twist on classic shortbread cookies, then this recipe is for you!
(NOTE: The full recipe with exact measurements is down at the bottom of this post in the recipe card!)
How to Make Cranberry Orange Cranberry Cookies
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Heavy Cream
- Dried Cranberries
- Orange Zest
- Vanilla Extract
- Sliced Almonds
- Egg White
To Make Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Whisk – in a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt. Whisk ingredients to combine.
- Cream – butter, powdered sugar, and orange zest in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand-held electric mixer at medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until mixture appears fluffy and light yellow in appearance.
- Reduce – mixer speed to low as the heavy cream, vanilla extract are mixed into butter-sugar mixture. Increase mixer speed to medium high and mix wet batter until it appears smooth, about 1 minute.
- Mix – the dry ingredients into wet mixture at low speed just until cookie dough forms.
- Fold – dried cranberries into cookie dough with a rubber spatula.
- Shape – cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough into an 8 inch log that is 2 inch in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate – cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough log for 3-4 hours or overnight. If refrigerating overnight, allow log to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften up a bit. This will make it easier to coat and slice into cookies.
- Preheat – oven to 350F (180C). Line (2) large baking sheets with parchment paper/silicone baking mats. Alternatively, cookies may be baked in batches with (1) large baking sheet.
- Add – crushed almonds to a large shallow dish/pan.
- Whisk – egg white with 1 tablespoon (15ml) water in a small mixing bowl. Retrieve cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough logs from the fridge.
- Coat – working with one cranberry orange cookies dough log at a time, brush some of the egg white mixture over the outer perimeter of the log and coat in almonds ensuring that the whole log is covered. Repeat this process with the second log.
- Slice – cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough logs into equal 1/4 inch slices. You should end up with 32 slices total.
- Bake – divide cookie slices between baking sheet (s) and bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through bake time.
- Cool – cranberry orange shortbread cookies on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature and serving.
How to Store Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
- Cranberry orange shortbread cookies stored in an airtight container will last up to 4-5 days at room temperature.
- Unbaked cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough shaped into a log and tightly wrapped in plastic wrap will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator and 1-2 months in the freezer. For refrigerated dough, leave out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before coating in almonds (if using) and slicing. For frozen dough, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and leave out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before coating in almonds (if using) and slicing.
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If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
PrintCranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
Buttery, soft cranberry orange shortbread cookies coated in almonds perfectly highlights the flavors of tart cranberries and zesty orange with a nice crunch from almonds.
- Prep Time: 40 Minutes (Not Including Refrigeration Time)
- Cook Time: 14 Minutes
- Total Time: 54 minutes
- Yield: 32 Cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 3 Cups (375 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Spooned and Leveled
- 3/4 Cup (83 g) Powdered Sugar, Sifted
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (17 oz) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 6 Tablespoons (90 ml) Heavy Cream, Room Temperature
- 1/4 + 2 Tablespoons Dried Cranberries (84 g), Finely Chopped
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon Fresh Orange Zest
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Cup (114 g) Sliced Almonds, Roughly Chopped
- 1 Large Egg White
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Filtered Water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and salt. Whisk ingredients to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter, powdered sugar, and orange zest at medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until mixture appears fluffy and light yellow in appearance.
- Reduce mixer speed to low as the heavy cream and vanilla extract are mixed into butter-sugar mixture. Increase mixer speed to medium high and mix wet batter until it appears smooth, about 1 minute.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture at low speed just until cookie dough forms. Take care to not overmix cookie dough.
- With a rubber spatula, fold the dried cranberries into cookie dough.
- Shape cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough into (2) 8 inch logs that is 2 inch in diameter.
- Tightly wrap logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. (If refrigerating overnight, allow cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough logs to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften up a bit. This will make it easier to coat and slice into cookies.)
- Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Line (2) large baking sheets with parchment paper/silicone baking mats. Alternatively, cookies may be baked in batches with (1) large baking sheet.
- Add almonds to a large shallow dish/pan.
- In a small mixing bowl, add egg white with 1 tablespoon (15ml) water and whisk to combine.
- Retrieve cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough logs from the fridge.
- Working with one cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough log at a time, brush some of the egg white mixture over the outer perimeter of the log and coat in almonds ensuring that the whole log is covered. Repeat this process with the second log.
- Slice cranberry orange shortbread cookies dough logs into equal 1/4 inch slices. You should end up with 32 slices total.
- Divide cookie slices between baking sheet (s) and bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through bake time.
- Cool cranberry orange shortbread cookies on baking sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
Notes
- Cranberry orange shortbread cookies are best eaten the day it is baked but will last 4-5 days at room temperature stored in an airtight container.
- For a more buttery cookie, replace the 6 tablespoons heavy cream with 6 tablespoons butter.
- Instead of rolling cranberry orange cookies in almonds, cookies may be rolled in coarse sugar like turbinado sugar for added crunch. Alternatively, cranberry orange cookies may be baked without any coating as well.
- I find using a pastry brush is the best way to apply egg white mixture to cookie dough logs before coating in almonds.
- For a smaller quantity of cookies, recipe for cranberry orange shortbread cookies may be halved for a yield of 16 cookies.
FEATURED RECIPE
Raspberry Linzer Cookies
These buttery, soft raspberry linzer cookies are perfect bites of deliciousness consisting of melt in your mouth almond cookies and a lovely sweet and tart raspberry jam filling.
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