Despite my complaints that I think I might be developing a mild allergy to citrus fruits, my mom keeps buying oranges by the box, faster than we can eat them. That, coupled with the fact that we have a giant bag of Craisins that has been sitting around the pantry, I’ve made it my personal mission to bake as many orange-cranberry flavored things as possible before I go back to school.
I’ve always loved slice and bake cookies for their simplicity and convenience, and these shortbread rounds are no exception. The ingredients list is pleasantly short, so I whipped up the dough while I was making some other cookies on Christmas Eve. Then I plopped the log in the fridge and promptly forgot about the dough, until a few days later when I realized that I meant to write a ‘cookies for Santa’ post with this cake stand:
I know Christmas is over, but look at this little guy! He’s too cute not to post. Ever since I received this cake stand for Christmas last year from a friend, I knew I had to photograph it with some festive Christmas cookies. It’s New Year’s Eve now so I’m a few days late (oops), but anytime is a good time for cranberry orange shortbread cookies. For anyone planning on dieting or hitting the gym more often in 2015 – quick, make these and shove a few of in your mouth before we ring in the new year!
Goodbye, 2014, you’ve been good to me 🙂
Recipe: Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons orange zest
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in the egg, yolk, vanilla and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the flour mixture, orange zest, and cranberries to the egg mixture and beat on low until just incorporated. Stop the mixer and finishing incorporating the ingredients with a spatula.
- Place the dough on a sheet of waxed paper. If it is very sticky and hard to work with, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours. When the dough is firmer, roll it into a log about 2.5 inches in diameter. Rewrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours, although overnight is best. (Here is where I forgot about the dough in the fridge for a few days, although if you are setting it aside for later on purpose it is best to freeze the log at this point.)
- When ready to bake, place racks in the middle and upper third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 1/3-inch-thick rounds. Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart. (They spread more than I thought they would)
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until barely browned around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Number of servings (yield): ~2 dozen cookies
Adapted from Peaches and Cream