Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies are soft, buttery, and speckled with chopped pecans. Top with a drizzle of white chocolate for extra sweetness — and try not to eat them all in one sitting! These are perfect for a quick sweet treat, a holiday gift, and every occasion in between.

 

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

These white chocolate cranberry shortbread cookies are a hit at cookie swaps and bake sales, but they are also gorgeous enough for gifts!

Arrange them on a pretty plate or package them up in cellophane bags with a festive ribbon. You could even make an assortment with a few other varieties.

Peanut butter blossoms are a classic, while pumpkin spice snickerdoodles combine two deliciously warm flavors. Or, try a simple pignoli recipe for friends who are gluten-free!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Unsalted Butter – Because salt content varies by brand, it’s better to control the amount yourself.
  
  If salted sticks are all you have on hand, reduce the amount of salt in this cranberry shortbread recipe to ¼ teaspoon.
  
• Powdered Sugar – This creates a more tender shortbread, while granulated sugar makes it come out more crisp.
  
• All-purpose Flour – Any good shortbread recipe is all about the butter, so you don’t need anything fancy for the flour.
  
• Dried Cranberries – I like to use sweetened varieties for white chocolate and cranberry shortbread cookies — the regular ones are a bit too tart.
  
  But they’re a good option if you’re sensitive to sweets!
  
• Chopped Pecans – Walnuts or macadamia nuts would be great substitutes.
  
• White Chocolate Chips – Melt these down to drizzle over the top of your cranberry shortbread cookies. Vanilla-flavored candy melts are a great swap if needed.

Tips and Tricks for Making White Chocolate Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

• Forgot to soften your butter?

Fill a tall glass with hot water, then pour out the liquid. Stand the stick of butter on its end and place the glass upside down over the top. The stick will be evenly softened in minutes!

Or, microwave the wrapped stick for 10 seconds at 50% power. It’s not always the most even, but it works faster!

• Tip for chilling:

While the freezer gets the dough cold very quickly, you can try refrigerating it for about an hour instead.

It just needs to be solid enough to hold together since it starts out pretty crumbly.

• Add some citrus!

Include up to 2 tablespoons of orange zest for another layer of flavor to your white chocolate cranberry shortbread cookies.

Prep Ahead

• Soften butter on the counter
• Chop pecans
• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Line baking sheets with parchment

Kitchen Tools You Will Need

• Baking Sheets lined with Parchment Paper
• Stand Mixer or large mixing bowl with Hand Mixer
• Plastic Wrap makes rolling the dough into a log much easier!
• Cooling Racks – I like these because you can cool a lot of treats without taking up a lot of counter space.

Serving Suggestions

Don’t forget the drizzle! It’s what makes these white chocolate and cranberry shortbread cookies.

All you have to do is heat the chips in the microwave in 30-second bursts. Stir between each until melted and smooth. Then, transfer to a Ziploc bag and snip off the bottom corner for easy, neat drizzling!

Cranberry shortbread biscuits — in the British sense — taste similar to Starbucks cranberry bliss bars, so they’re lovely with a cozy cup of tea or coffee. Maybe a maple latte in the fall?

Cranberry Shortbread FAQ

Storing and Freezing Cranberry Shortbread Biscuits

These will last for up to 4 weeks at room temperature in an airtight container.

Cranberry shortbread biscuits will also keep in the freezer for the same amount of time. Add a piece of parchment between layers and warm on the counter before serving.

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.

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Other Cookie Recipes

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

Donna Elick

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies are soft, buttery, and speckled with chopped pecans. Top with a drizzle of white chocolate for extra sweetness!

4.84 stars from 6 reviews

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Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Method Freezer, Oven

Servings 15 – 16

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
• ▢ 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• ▢ 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

 

• In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer in a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together butter and vanilla extract.
• Add the powdered sugar and salt and mix until combined and smooth.
• Slowly add flour and mix well (scrape down bowl as needed).
• Fold in cranberries and chopped pecans (batter will be crumbly).
• Transfer dough to plastic wrap and press dough into a round log.
• Put the dough in the freezer for 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and take the dough out of the freezer and unwrap (let sit for 5-10 minutes if it is too hard to cut).
• Cut dough into 1/2 inch slices and put them on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes (rotate the pan after 5 minutes).
• Remove from the oven when the bottom of the cookie starts to brown and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Once the cookies are cool, heat the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments until melted.
• Transfer the white chocolate to a zippered bag and cut the tip off to drizzle over cookies.
• Let cookies cool completely and enjoy!

Donna’s Notes

If your butter has been in the refrigerator and is not room temperature, heat in the microwave for 10 seconds at 50% power. Repeat if needed.

Dough will be crumbly when you roll it in the plastic wrap.

Dough can be refrigerated for 3 days or kept in the freezer for up to 3 months if you want to make it ahead of time.

You could refrigerate the dough for 1 hour and see if it is solid enough to hold together instead of putting it in the freezer.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 210cal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 85mg | Sugar: 14g | Fiber: 1g | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 1mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published November 2021, updated and republished August 2024

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