Description
These Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies combine zesty orange flavor with tart dried cranberries in a buttery shortbread base, topped with a smooth orange glaze. Perfectly crisp and lightly sweet, they make a delightful treat for holidays or any special occasion.
Ingredients
Scale
Shortbread
- 60 g caster sugar
- 1 orange, zest
- 125 g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 180 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 75 g dried cranberries, finely chopped
Orange glaze
- 120 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 30 ml orange juice
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Rub Sugar and Orange Zest: Using your fingertips, rub the orange zest into the caster sugar until the sugar becomes orange-stained and feels wet, releasing the natural oils to intensify the flavor.
- Cream Butter and Orange Sugar: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the unsalted butter with the orange sugar on medium speed until pale and light. Scrape down the bowl and add vanilla extract, mixing again.
- Add Flour and Cranberries: At low speed, incorporate the plain flour and chopped dried cranberries into the creamed mixture until combined, resulting in a raggedy dough.
- Form Dough and Roll Out: Squeeze the dough together into a ball and press into a rough disc. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to ½ cm thickness. If too soft, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes until firm enough to roll.
- Cut Cookies and Chill: Use a cookie cutter to stamp out shapes, placing them onto parchment-lined trays. Gather scraps, re-roll, and cut more cookies as needed. Refrigerate the cut cookies for at least 30 minutes to harden.
- Bake Cookies: Preheat the oven to 170°C (335°F). Bake the chilled cookies for 15 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Orange Glaze: Whisk together the powdered icing sugar, orange juice, and melted butter until smooth. Adjust consistency by adding icing sugar or orange juice as needed.
- Dip Cookies in Glaze: Dip the face of each cooled cookie into the glaze, allowing excess to drip off. Place on a wire rack and let the glaze set before serving.
Notes
- Step-by-step photos available on the original blog to guide through the process.
- The recipe yields approximately 20 cookies using a 5 cm (2-inch) star cutter; yield varies with cutter size and dough thickness.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week.
- Undecorated shortbread cookies can be frozen for up to 3 months and thawed overnight at room temperature.
- Re-roll the dough scraps to maximize cookie count, but note repeated handling may dry the dough; add a few drops of water if needed.
- Lightly flour cookie cutters before stamping to prevent sticking and preserve cookie shape.
- Refrigerate the dough and cut cookies before baking to maintain shape and prevent spreading.
- Oven temperatures vary; monitor baking time closely to avoid over or underbaking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 14 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 15 mg
