Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

These incredible cranberry orange shortbread cookies are like two different cookies in one. They look fancy and complicated, but the process is quite simple: Add cranberries and nuts to one hunk of dough and orange zest to the other, assemble the separate doughs in layers, chill them, then slice through for some truly unique cookies. Be prepared to hear some oohs and ahhs when you share these!

Ingredients for Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies 

• Butter: The softened butter helps make the edges crispy in a shortbread cookie; it’s also a crucial ingredient to achieve an excellent shortbread texture.
• Sugar: Sugar also plays a role in the texture of the cookies, and it makes them sweet, but not overly so.
• Egg: Though not in traditional shortbread recipes, the egg helps bind the ingredients together and makes the cookies a little more fluffy. It’s best to use room temperature eggs when baking, so as to improve the texture of your baked good.
• Milk: The 2% milk helps moisten the dough a bit.
• Vanilla extract: The vanilla extract adds a slight note of vanilla to the cookie dough.
• All-purpose flour: This flour variety is ideal for making shortbread cookies, supplying the body and much of the texture of the cookie.
• Baking powder: Baking powder isn’t in all shortbread cookies, but in this recipe, it helps them rise a little bit.
• Orange zest: Orange zest adds a pleasing and mild orange flavor to the cookies. Zest an orange easily using a microplane.
• Dried cranberries: Dots of chopped dried cranberry pair nicely with the orange notes in the other part of the cookie.
• Pecans: Chopped pecans add a little crunch and protein to these cranberry and orange shortbread cookies.
• Red food coloring (optional): The food coloring makes the difference between cookie portions more obvious, but it’s not essential.

Directions

Step 1: Make the cookie dough

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Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the egg, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder, then gradually add the dry mixture into the creamed blend and mix well.

Step 2: Flavor the dough

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Transfer 1 cup of dough to a small bowl and stir in the orange zest, then set the bowl aside. To the remaining dough, add the cranberries, pecans and, if desired, food coloring. Once the cranberry mixture is well blended, divide it in half.

Step 3: Form the dough loaf

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Line an 8×4-inch loaf pan with waxed paper. Press one portion of cranberry dough evenly into the pan bottom; top that with the orange dough, then the remaining cranberry dough. Cover the pan and refrigerate the dough for two hours or until it’s firm.

Step 4: Slice the cookie dough

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Remove the dough from the pan, and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut each portion into 1/4-inch slices, so each piece has cranberry on either end and orange in the middle. Place the slices 1 inch apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

Step 5: Bake the cookies

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Bake the cookies until their edges begin to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Set the cookie sheets on wire racks and let the cookies cool completely.

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Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookie Variations

• Use different nuts: Try chopped walnuts, cashews or bits of almond slices in the cookies instead of pecans.
• Add chocolate chips: Add mini chocolate chips to the orange portion of the dough for an exquisite flavor combination.
• Add amaretto flavor: Swap out the vanilla extract for some almond or amaretto flavoring, which has a slight taste of almond. And if you really enjoy almonds, add this amaretti cookie recipe to your must-make list.

How to Store Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

When the cookies are cool, keep them fresh by storing them in an airtight container, where they’ll keep for about five days.

Can you freeze these shortbread cookies with orange and cranberries?

These cookies are excellent to freeze and save for later. Store them in zippered freezer bags or in stackable airtight freezer containers, and enjoy them within six months. The dough can be frozen for three months as well; place the layered log or loaf in a freezer bag and press all the air out. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator the day before you plan to slice and bake the cookies.

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookie Tips

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Would this be considered an icebox cookie recipe?

Technically yes, this shortbread-style cookie is an icebox cookie because the dough is formed into a log or loaf, cooled in the refrigerator, then sliced to make the cookies. The term “icebox cookie” dates to a century or so ago, when homes had iceboxes, before the era of the modern refrigerator. The icebox was a chest or cabinet that held a block of ice to keep foods cold, in much the same way a picnic cooler is used today, except in furniture form. Icebox cookies became popular when the average American home had some means of keeping foods cool; the “icebox” part of the name stuck around long after refrigerators took the place of iceboxes.

Why do I have to chill the dough?

Chilling the dough is necessary for shortbread and icebox-style cookies because it firms the butter. Otherwise, if the butter within the dough melts to the point that the dough feels greasy, the cookies will spread out when baking, and the end result won’t be the same.

Can I reverse the cookie layers or make four layers?

Sure. Either the orange or cranberry layer can be in the middle of the cookie, or you can break the dough up into four equal balls to make four layers, resulting in a striped cookie. How’s that for something special?