Cranberry Orange Butter Cookies are a deliciously tender and buttery slice and bake cookie. Fresh orange zest and dried cranberries make a tasty and festive holiday cookie!
Butter Cookies
Butter cookies are a traditional Danish cookie. They traditionally did not have any flavoring to maintain the buttery taste and are generally still sold that way. Butter cookies are widely sold during the holidays in a tin and usually come in assorted shapes. Common shapes of butter cookies are round, square, rings, oval, and pretzel. The main ingredients in butter cookies are butter, flour, and sugar. This recipe is a modern twist on the classic butter cookie.
Ingredients
How to Make Cranberry Orange Butter Cookies
- Beat butter and sugar in a mixer on medium speed until light, fluffy, and pale yellow.
- Add egg, vanilla, almond, and orange juice. Beat until completely combined. Scrape down the sides when needed.
- Add flour, salt, and orange zest stir until incorporated. Stir in cranberries until mixed.
- Divide the dough in half then place it onto plastic wrap. Roll the dough into a log to make 2 logs. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Roll the logs in coarse sugar or sprinkle on sliced cookies if desired. Slice dough into ½ thick rounds using a sharp knife.
- Place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 16-20 minutes until the edges just start to become golden.
Tips/Variations
- The dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. Thaw the dough out in the refrigerator before you slice and bake.
- If you don’t have the 2 hours to chill the dough. Chill it in the log form until firm, then slice, place on a cookie sheet, and chill 15-20 more minutes to ensure the cookies don’t spread.
- Instead of using coarse sugar, you could drizzle some melted white chocolate over the cookies if desired.
Products Used
Storage
Cookie dough can be wrapped into logs and refrigerated for 3-5 days. The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator prior to baking.
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Christmas Cookies
- Shortbread Cookies with Vanilla Bean Glaze
- Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Browned Butter Cinnamon Chip Cookies
Cranberry Orange Butter Cookies
Equipment
- stand or hand mixer
- plastic wrap
- 2 cookie sheets
- parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 naval orange zested and 1tbsp juice
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried cranberries roughly chopped
- 2-3 tbsp coarse sugar for rolling or topping
Instructions
- Beat butter and sugar in a mixer on medium speed 2-3 minutes or until light, fluffy, and pale yellow color. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed. Add egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and 1 tbsp orange juice. Continue mixing until completely combined.Stir in flour, salt, and orange zest. Then stir in dried cranberries.
- Divide the dough in half. Place on plastic wrap.Roll dough into a log to make 2 logs. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll the logs in coarse sugar or sprinkle on sliced cookies if desired. Slice the dough into ½ thick rounds using a sharp knife. (approximately 14 cookies per log).Place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 16-20 minutes until the edges start to become golden. Let cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- The dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
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