Cranberry Orange Cookies
Cranberry Orange Cookies are everything you want for a festive and beautiful holiday cookie. I’ve always loved the combination of cranberries and oranges, whether in was in a homemade cranberry sauce or relish, or baked goods like cookies, muffins, sweet breads or cakes. These cookies contain fresh cranberries which provide a little tartness, along with orange zest and vanilla chips which provide extra sweetness. They are yummy in my opinion.
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I know not everyone can handle the tartness of fresh cranberries, so if that’s you, substitute dried cranberries instead. They will be quite a bit sweeter. Even still, I LOVED the way these cookies tasted and turned out. And they really are terrific for a Christmas Cookie Exchange, tailgating parties or any holiday activity.
Let me give you a few tips when making these cookies. The dough is extremely dry. To work the dough into balls, I scooped it up in my hands and then crushed the crumbs in my palms with my fingers…several times. Sometimes I switched hands and moved the ball back and forth. I tried to make sure each cookie had at least two cranberries. Also, it’s really easier to work with the smaller cranberries rather than larger ones.
It will take fifteen to twenty seconds to shape EACH cookie. The aim is to get a golf-ball sized ball of cookie dough. I know the texture seems weird. But it really works if you scrunch the dough crumbs together well. The taste and texture turns out incredibly well. There are a lot of chips in this dough also, so you may find yourself adding some of the chips from the bottom of the bowl into cookies already made. Extra yum-O!
If you’re ready for holiday baking this year, give these a try. I made eight batches so my pictures reflect a lot more ingredients than a single batch. They freeze well too for later. I think it’s time for another cookie!
Cranberry Orange Cookies are wonderful.
These cookies are great for tailgating and office parties around the holidays.
I loved the texture and taste of the tart cranberries along with the sweetened vanilla chips.
Every bite is a little bit sweet and a little bit tart!
Here’s what I did.
I used these ingredients.
Wash cranberries; pat dry with paper towels. This recipe is easier to make if you pick out the smaller ones and use those for these cookies.
Transfer cranberries to a small mixing bowl; add 1/4 cup sugar (for each batch).
Stir to combine; set aside.
Soften butter. (I usually leave it out on the counter over night.) Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, (one egg if making a single batch), baking soda, salt and orange extract.
Add vanilla extract. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add unbleached flour. (Bleached flour toughens baked goods). Add vanilla chips, orange zest and sugared cranberries.
Stir really, really well to combine. Even still, you will end up with a dry dough like this.
Grab a handful of crumbs and start squeezing the crumbs together so they adhere. (This will take about 15-20 seconds per cookie).
Keep squeezing and shaping until you get a golf ball-sized ball of dough. Make sure you have at least two cranberries in each ball.
Place balls on greased baking sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Edges will be golden brown. (My cookies took 19 minutes to bake completely). Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks after ten minutes of baking time.
Every bite is delightful.
You wouldn’t think that all those crumbs could bake up into something so beautiful and so delicious but they really do! 🙂
You may not be able to eat a stack in one sitting, but serve them for office or tailgating parties and watch them disappear!
If you enjoy a little tartness from the cranberries, you’ll love these amazing cookies.
Here’s the recipe.
CRANBERRY ORANGE COOKIES
(My own concoction)
Cranberry Orange Cookies
Equipment
- 2 18×26" cookie sheet pans
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 small mixing bowl
- 1 electric mixer
- 2 wooden spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- 1 grater or orange zester
- 1 spatula
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 cup salted butter softened (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. orange extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries washed (smaller cranberries preferred)
- 2 tbsp. orange zest
- 2 cups vanilla chips or premiere white baking chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Wash cranberries in colander.
- Pat dry with paper towels and transfer to a small mixing bowl.
- Add ¼ cup granulated sugar and stir to combine; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla and orange extracts, baking soda, salt, and orange zest until smooth and creamy.
- Add flour, cranberry mixture and white chocolate chips and stir into batter with a wooden spoon.
- Stir batter throughly, but it will still be very dry.
- Scrunch and squeeze dough with hands until crumbs start adhering.
- Form dough into a ball while squeezing dough; this will take 15-20 seconds for each ball of dough.
- Place balls on cookie sheets that have been sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown around edges.
- Rotate cookie sheets on oven racks after ten minutes of baking time.
- Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely.
- Store in airtight container.
Notes
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen
Nutrition
I have a few cookies that I bake during the holidays with fresh cranberries. But most of them use dried cranberries which are sweetened.
Cranberry Orange Cookies are terrific for a Christmas Cookie Exchange.
Cranberry and orange flavors combine for one fantastic cookie!
Going, going, gone!
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Cranberry Almond White Chocolate Cookies
2 Comments
J
January 1, 2024 at 9:03 pm
I ate these cookies at a friend’s house and they were AMAZING. I immediately sought out the recipe. Can’t wait to try making these myself.
Teresa Ambra
January 2, 2024 at 1:33 pm
Hi J. The biggest thing to remember when making this recipe is the ingredients are very dry. You have to scrunch and scrunch the dough in your fists until the crumbs adhere together and form a ball about golf-ball sized. This takes about 15 seconds per cookie. A little extra work, but so worth it! This cookie was the top winner for my Christmas Cookie Extravaganza this year. I had SO many wonderful comments about them. So glad you enjoyed them and are willing to give them a try!