Description
Delightfully buttery and zesty Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies featuring a tender crumb studded with dried cranberries and topped with a tangy orange glaze. Perfect for festive occasions or an elegant teatime treat.
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: Massage the orange zest into the caster sugar using your fingertips until the sugar is orange-stained and feels wet, releasing the natural oils for enhanced flavor.
- Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla: In an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter and orange sugar on medium speed until pale and lightened. Scrape down the bowl, then mix in vanilla extract.
- Add flour and cranberries: On low speed, incorporate the plain flour and chopped dried cranberries into the creamed butter mixture until just combined, forming a ragged dough.
- Form dough and roll out: Gather the dough into a ball, press into a rough disc, then roll out on a lightly floured surface to ½ cm thickness. If too soft, wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes until easier to handle.
- Cut and chill cookies: Use a 5 cm cookie cutter to stamp out shapes and place them on parchment-lined baking trays. Re-roll scraps to maximize yield. Refrigerate the cutouts for at least 30 minutes until firm to retain shape while baking.
- Bake cookies: Preheat oven to 170°C (335°F). Bake chilled cookies for 15 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool on trays for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
- Prepare orange glaze: Whisk together powdered icing sugar, orange juice, and melted butter until smooth. Adjust consistency by adding more icing sugar or orange juice as needed.
- Dip cookies in glaze: Dip the cookie faces into the glaze, lift gently letting excess drip off, then place on wire racks to set before serving.
Notes
- Step-by-step photos in the original blog post can guide you through each stage of this recipe for perfect results.
- Yield depends on cookie cutter size and dough thickness; this recipe yields approximately 20 cookies with a 5 cm cutter.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to one week to maintain freshness.
- Undecorated shortbread dough freezes well for up to 3 months; thaw frozen dough overnight at room temperature before baking.
- Re-roll dough scraps to maximize cookie yield but avoid overworking to prevent dryness.
- Flour cookie cutters lightly to prevent sticking and preserve cookie shapes.
- Chilling the dough before baking is essential to avoid spreading and distorted cookie shapes.
- Monitor baking time closely as oven temperatures vary; a minute or two can impact texture and appearance.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 135 kcal
- Sugar: 9 g
- Sodium: 40 mg
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 20 mg
