Cranberry Orange Shortbread

I hope that you all had a good holiday and the days have been filled with positives. I had a lovely Christmas this year and had good gatherings with my family and friends. I f you’re like me, you probably don’t want or need any additional sweets around the house! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to bake this week or do a flashback Friday post for a recipe that I really liked from the past. I decided I had the time and would bake.

I had a small amount of fresh cranberries left in the refrigerator, and this recipe was perfect for using those up. It’s rare that I have fresh cranberries, as I typically put them in the freezer as soon as I buy them. For most recipes, you can use fresh and frozen cranberries interchangeably. I don’t know if frozen cranberries would work in this recipe, but mt inclination is that they would work as long as you can get them chopped finely. For slice and bake cookies like these, you don’t want large chunks of the add-ins in the dough.

The recipe as written here is the while recipe, but I only made a half recipe. I didn’t really need too many cookies around, although my house currently has an abundance of mince pies, Christmas cake, and chocolates and not so many cookies. Half of this recipe made about 18 cookies, although it depends on how thinly you slice the cookies. I wasn’t sure if these cookies would be super tart, as cranberries can be very tart. The aren’t too bad at all; I really love how the cranberries pair with the richness of the butter cookie. These not-too-sweet cookies are perfect for wrapping up the festive season!

Cranberry Orange Shortbread  

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon orange zest

In a food processor, process the cranberries until finely chopped. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until blended. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour. Add the cranberries and orange zest and stir on low until the dough comes together.

Divide the dough into two halves. Shape each half into a log and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Slice the dough into ¼” slices and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 16-20 minutes, until the cookies are set and very lightly browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets.

Recipe from Turning The Clock Back