Cranberry Nut Swirls
Fabulous Christmas cookie made with a shortbread layer and a cranberry-orange zest-walnut layer swirled into the cookie. Great for holiday baking.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup cranberries finely ground
- 1/2 cup Finely chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1 tbsp. orange peel grated
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tsp. milk
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine first four ingredients.
- Beat until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture.
- Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- In a small bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts and orange peel; set aside.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-inch square.
- Combine brown sugar and milk; spread over dough.
- Sprinkle with the cranberry mixture, leaving about a ½-inch edge at both ends of dough; roll up tightly, jelly-roll style.
- Wrap with waxed paper; chill several hours or overnight.
- Cut roll into ¼-inch slices and place on well-greased cookie sheets.
- Bake at 375° for 14-15 minutes or until edges are light brown.
Notes
NOTE: 1 bag of cranberries = 2 cups shredded cranberries.
NOTE: Avoid the tendency to overcook these cookies because they don’t look done after 14-15 minutes. Once they get to the lightly browned stage all over they will become crispy cookies, which is not what they are supposed to turn out like.
NOTE: Preparation time does not include time necessary to chill the dough.
NOTE: It is recommended that you spray your pans heavily with cooking spray otherwise the cookies may stick to the pan.
NOTE: Be careful not to crowd the cookies on a cookie sheet as they expand quite a bit while baking.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.
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