These frosted cranberry cookies start with a gloriously soft cranberry shortbread cookie that is topped with a sweet vanilla icing and sugared cranberries. Also called cranberry meltaway cookies, they are so soft they almost melt in your mouth!
What makes these festive cranberry cookies so good?
- Sweet and Tart: These cookies combine the sweet and tart flavors of cranberry jelly and sugared craisins with soft, buttery shortbread. You won’t be able to resist!
- Soft: If you love soft, shortbread cookies, then these will make you swoon. The smooth, sweet frosting is a nice added textural element, too.
- Simple: While I do recommend using a hand mixer or stand mixer, even beginning bakers can make this easy meltaway cookie recipe. You don’t even have to chill the dough!
- Festive: The sugared cranberries and creamy icing not only add flavor, but also make the cookies so pretty and festive!
If you love shortbread cookies, be sure to also try my almond meltaway cookies or this decadent millionaire’s shortbread!
What You’ll Need
To make this cranberry cookie recipe, you will need a few basic baking ingredients, plus some cranberry jelly or sauce. Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.
- Flour: Plain all-purpose flour is perfect.
- Baking Powder: Make sure to use baking powder, not baking soda.
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter: If you use salted butter, remove the added 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
- Sugar: For the cookies, use regular granulated sugar. For the frosting, you’ll need powdered sugar.
- Cranberry Jelly: I used canned cranberry jelly, however you can use leftover cranberry relish as well.
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract
- Craisins: Roughly chopped and tossed in granulated sugar.
- Milk: To thin the frosting to the right consistency.
Making cranberry cookies is very simple, and you don’t even have to roll them out! This is a soft, sweet drop cookie recipe that’s a breeze to whip up.
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- Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Wet Ingredients: Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the cranberry jelly, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
- Combine: Gradually add the flour mixture, about half a cup at a time, mixing until completely blended.
- Prepare: Drop rounded dough balls onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flatten each one into a disk shape with the bottom of a buttered and sugared glass.
- Bake: Bake cookies for 10 minutes, remove from oven, and cool on the baking sheet for five minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Topping: Toss the dried cranberries with the sugar, and set aside. Then in a mixing bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla till smooth. Top each cooled cookie with icing and cranberries, and serve or store for later.
If you plan on making these, be sure to check out these helpful baking notes to guarantee success!
- Cookie Doneness: These are super quick to bake – only ten minutes! Like other shortbread and sugar cookie recipes, you may think that they’re not quite done by that time, but if you let them cool, they will firm up nicely.
- Cranberry Sauce vs. Butter: Both canned and fresh cranberry sauce (or jelly) will work in this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand, you can just skip it and increase the butter to 1 cup (2 sticks). Then just add some extra craisins to the cookie dough for that pop of flavor.
- Icing: Aim for a consistency that’s thin enough to spread and settle, but not overly runny. To thicken icing that’s too thin, add extra powdered sugar. Alternatively, add extra milk if the icing is too thick.
- Sugared Craisins: Don’t skimp on the sugared craisins on top, they really set these cookies apart – both in flavor and presentation!
- White Chocolate: If you want to add white chocolate, skip the vanilla icing. Instead, dip the top of these cookies into melted white chocolate chips before adding the dried cranberries.
How to Store
Store your frosted cranberry cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the cookies to prevent the frosting from getting smeared and smushed. Seal the container tightly, and store at room temperature for a week.
Place cookies on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze until firm. Then, transfer them to an airtight container with parchment paper between to prevent sticking. Frozen cookies can be stored for several months. Thaw to room temperature before serving.
Yield: 24 Cookies
These gloriously soft cranberry shortbread cookies have a sweet vanilla icing and sugared dried cranberries on top. Perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup canned cranberry jelly
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cranberries:
- ½ cup craisins (dried cranberries), chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk, or water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add cranberry jelly, egg and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
- Add flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until completely combined.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, drop one tablespoon of rounded dough onto prepared pan. Lightly flatten into a disk shape with the bottom of a buttered and sugared glass.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will not look browned or cooked, but they are! Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, toss together cranberries and sugar, set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract – until smooth.
- Using a spoon, smooth icing onto the top of each cookie. Sprinkle with sugared craisins and let set for 10 minutes, or until hardened. Enjoy!
Notes
Storage: Store your frosted cranberry cookies in an airtight container with parchment paper between the cookies to prevent the frosting from getting smeared and smushed. Seal the container tightly, and store at room temperature for a week.
Freeze: Place cookies on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze until firm. Then, transfer them to an airtight container with parchment paper between to prevent sticking. Frozen cookies can be stored for several months. Thaw to room temperature before serving.
Cookie Doneness: These are super quick to bake – only ten minutes! Like other shortbread and sugar cookie recipes, you may think that they’re not quite done by that time, but if you let them cool, they will firm up nicely.
Icing: Aim for a consistency that’s thin enough to spread and settle, but not overly runny. To thicken icing that’s too thin, add extra powdered sugar. Alternatively, add extra milk if the icing is too thick.
Sugared Craisins: Don’t skimp on the sugared craisins on top, they really set these cookies apart – both in flavor and presentation!
White Chocolate: If you want to add white chocolate, skip the vanilla icing. Instead, dip the top of these cookies into melted white chocolate chips before adding the dried cranberries.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 cookie, Calories: 159kcal, Carbohydrates: 24g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 23mg, Sodium: 37mg, Potassium: 21mg, Fiber: 0.5g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 198IU, Vitamin C: 0.04mg, Calcium: 11mg, Iron: 1mg
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I really wanted to love these as I love anything cranberry usually. But since you mentioned they wouldn’t look done, I baked the longer amount which was still slightly underdone and didn’t make for a tasty cookie unfortunately. The glaze wasn’t white. Mine turned out a boring beige after the vanilla was added so they weren’t very pretty cookies even w/ the sugared cranberries on top. The glaze didn’t add any flavor either though I thought the cranberries on top would make them shine, but they didn’t add enough flavor nor did the cranberry sauce/jelly I’d made and added to the batter. They were just ok. Nothing remarkable and I didn’t make another batch. If I were to try again, I’d add an orange glaze w/ zest instead of the milk glaze but as written, they just didn’t work for me unfortunately.
Delicious! Made as written. Family really enjoyed. Thanks for sharing.
The recipe says cranberry jelly/sauce. Do you mean cranberry jelly(like sweet jelly that you would spread on toast)? Or can I use jellied cranberry sauce, is that sweet enough? Also if I can use canned cranberry sauce can I use sauce with whole cranberries included? Can’t wait to try this recipe.
I made these last year, and used jellied cranberry sauce, like you eat with turkey. I think you can use whole cranberry sauce too. With the jelly you can’t even really tell that it’s in there, but they’re so good! My bf likes em, said they remind him of a European cookie. He doesn’t like sweets really. Making them again today! (I don’t flatten them, or add the icing. I found it too sweet, and flattening them was a pain. They cook perfectly fine, but don’t flatten. You can still ice them that way.) Happy baking!
Tanya thank you for responding. I will not flatten, we are doing our cookie bake off this weekend I can’t wait to taste these. Thanks Again!!!
Did anyone freeze them? I wold like to make and freeze. I need to make 100 of them for an exchange.
Hi!! On the recipe says granulated sugar and sugar… ehat is the difference?? Thanks!!!
These are great cookies! I made them for a holiday party this past weekend and they were a huge hit! Few edits I made to my cookies…I chilled the dough for 30 mins before scooping out onto the pan. They were waaaaay too delicate and sticky to handle without chilling. I also used some almond extract in the icing instead of the Vanilla (my vanilla spilled all over my stove right as I was about to grab it for the icing) and still turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!
Can you send me the exact recipe?
The recipe is posted in full at the bottom of the post.
Made these cookies. They were incredibly delicious. Definitely going on my Christmas cookie list to make every year.
So glad you enjoyed them Christin!!
I am attending a cookie exchange, I’m excited to make these cookies! Thank you.
Can you please tell me how long they stay fresh? I’d like to make them for a cookie exchange, they look wonderful!
Hi Stacey! They stay fresh for about 3 days, but are still tasty by day 5.
These cookies look absolutely delish!! Thank you for sharing.
I absolutely love your video! It turns the “I wanna make those” into “I have got to make those!!!”. I have a question. I live in France and can’t find cranberry jelly / preserves or fresh cranberries. (I am super happy to have Craisins!). Would would you suggest if I can’t get cranberry jelly? Should I leave it out or maybe substitute it with something else? Thank you so much!
I would suggest upping the butter to 1 cup and just adding in a handful of dried craisins to the dough!
They looked really tasty, nice idea!
These look amazing. I want to make them now and freeze for Christmas. Any recommendations on freezing them?
Hi Susan, sorry I have not tried freezing them myself. If you do try freezing them, please come back and share how it turns out!
Would it be possible to use fresh cranberries?..I’m not sure how if it is possible. I have a lot of cranberries but no craisins and I really want to make these today
Hi Connie! You could! I would up the butter amount to 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) and then add in some chopped fresh cranberries. For the topping, you could make your own dried cranberries or sugar the cranberries and then add them on top if you like really tart fresh cranberries! 🙂
These are bound to be my new favorite cookie.
Oooooo… I love these cookies! They just scream the holidays. 🙂
These look so amazing for the holidays!
Oh those look delectable. I would snitch at least 4 right away!
These are the perfect holiday cookie recipe. Great video!