Melt in your Mouth Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

These cranberry shortbread cookies use dried cranberries and orange zest for a melt in your mouth shortbread cookies that are bursting with flavor. The outside of the cookie is rolled in raw sugar for an extra sweet crunch. You will absolutely love these holiday cookies!

As a trained pastry chef you might think that I like to make all the intricate and crazy desserts. But the opposite is true!

I really would rather make simple yet slightly elevated baked goods. Especially around holiday time when there is so much going on! These cranberry cookies fit the bill!

The dough for this cookie uses dried cranberries and orange zest for that classic fun combo and then it is rolled in turbinado sugar for a crunchy exterior. If you have never used turbinado sugar before, it’s just raw sugar. It’s the best because it doesn’t melt when baked so it stays crunchy!

These cookies will totally melt in your mouth like a good shortbread cookie does. After making these chocolate shortbread cookies and lemon shortbread cookies, it was time to combine some more flavor!

Why you will love this recipe

• It’s super easy to make with just a few ingredients.
• The cookies literally melt in your mouth.
• It’s an easy way to use up dried cranberries!

What is a shortbread cookie?

Well shortbread is traditionally a Scottish biscuit that is made with 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour. If you check the recipe below, you’ll see those are the exact ratios I use!

I love making shortbread this time of year, the rest of the year I like to make these raspberry lemon linzer cookies.

Ingredients Needed

• Unsalted butter- You’ll need butter at room temperature. Learn how to soften butter quickly!
• Confectioners sugar– Using this instead of regular granulated sugar creates a really light cookie that melts in your mouth.
• Fresh Orange – The zest from the orange brings so much flavor.
• Dried cranberries– Chop them up to get them all over!
• Vanilla Extract – For extra flavor.
• All purpose flour– this is the best flour to use for shortbread cookies
• Kosher salt- To bring out the flavor.
• Turbinado or raw sugar– You roll the cookie log in the sugar for extra sweetness and bite. This is also known as “Sugar in the Raw”.

This recipes uses dried cranberries. I don’t recommend using fresh or frozen cranberries as they would add too much moisture to the dough.

How to make Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

You can use a hand or stand mixer or make these cookies by hand and knead the dough.

Make the dough: In a medium sized bowl combine the butter and confectioners sugar. Mix on low speed until light and fluffy about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add in the orange zest and vanilla and mix to combine. Add in the chopped dried cranberries, flour, and salt and mix until a firm dough is formed.

Roll the dough: Roll the dough into a log. It’s helpful to wrap the dough in plastic wrap or parchment paper and then roll it like a rolling pin to shape it. Chill the dough for 1 hour or up to overnight in the fridge.

Roll in sugar and slice: Pour the turbinado sugar onto a rimmed baking sheet and roll the log all over the sugar making sure to cover every bit. Using a long serrated knife in a sawing motion, slice 1″4- 1/2″ slices making sure to keep them even.

Bake: Bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350° F.

Storing and Freezing Instructions

Storing: Store the cranberry cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freezing: You can make the dough and freeze it for up to 2 months. After rolling the log in the sugar, wrap the log in plastic and then place in a freezer safe bag before freezing. Slice and bake when you are ready for the cookies!

You can also completely bake the cookies, then store them in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

Recipe FAQ

Do I really need to chill the shortbread dough? YES. You really do. You have to chill shortbread to ensure that your cookies do not spread into blobs!

Can I add in other ingredients? Totally! You can swap cranberries and orange zest out for any other combo you might like. Try adding other dried fruits or nuts. Make sure to chop them though so that the flavor is really spread out!

Can I swap the confectioners sugar for regular sugar? I don’t recommend it! The reason I use confectioners sugar is because of its texture (super powdery and soft) and because it also contain corn starch which is a classic shortbread ingredient.

Whats the difference between a shortbread cookie and a sugar cookie? The difference between shortbread and a sugar cookie is that shortbread recipes don’t use any eggs and are generally made with confectioners (powdered) sugar. This is what gives them that crunchy yet melt in your mouth feeling.

Sugar cookies use eggs and regular granulated sugar and can have more of a chewy taste.

Why is my dough dry and crumbly? You may have to keep mixing or you might have added too much of a dry ingredient. Make sure to accurately measure your ingredients with a kitchen scale or spoon flour into a measuring cup and level it off. Add 1 tsp water or orange juice to bring it back together

Tips for Recipe Success

• To zest an orange I use a microplane or citrus zester. If you don’t have one you can slice off the zest of the orange making sure not to get the white parts. Then mince into small pieces.
• If you don’t want to use a mixer you can use your hands instead. Bring the ingredients together in a bowl and then knead the shortbread dough on a lightly floured surface.
• Make ahead: This is a great recipe to make ahead. Make the recipe up until slicing. Wrap the log in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to slice and bake.
• You can replace the turbinado sugar with regular sugar for coating the cookies, but it might melt!
• If the dough is to hard to slice, let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes and retry.

For more cookie holiday favorites, try these recipes:

• Thumbprint Cookies
• Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
• Gingerbread Biscotti
• Raspberry Lemon Linzer Cookies
• Italian Ricotta Cookies

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