Yield: 24 Cookies
Cranberry 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