Cranberry Orange Cookies – Jo Cooks

These Cranberry Orange Cookies are the perfect Christmas cookie! Chewy cookies chock full of fresh cranberries and zesty orange, topped with a brightly flavored, homemade orange glaze.

The Best Cranberry Orange Cookies Recipe

Christmas was made for cookies, and I was made to bake them! This was a new cookie I had never made before, so I wasn’t sure how they would turn out. But with fresh cranberries and zesty orange, I knew the flavor combination would work. Add in the homemade glaze and boy do we ever have a winner. These cranberry orange cookies will definitely be added into my holiday cookie rotation, I can tell you that.

Are these cookies delicious? Yes. Are they freezable? Yes. Are they perfect for the Holidays? Also yes. There are so many reasons why these cranberry orange cookies work, I could go on about them until next Christmas! And that glaze? Wow! If you’re looking for a chewy cookie with bright, fresh flavors, you’ve come to the right place.

Cookies

• Butter – I used unsalted to control the sodium, just make sure it’s at room temperature!
• Flour – All purpose works best.
• Sugar – Regular granulated sugar does the trick.
• Egg – I always use large eggs when I’m baking. This is going to help bind all of our ingredients together.
• Cranberries – I used chopped, frozen cranberries, but dried will work. See “FAQs & Expert Tips” for more info.
• Orange – You’ll want fresh oranges because we are going to be using both the orange zest and orange juice. Fresh is always best!
• Vanilla Extract – Without vanilla our cookies will taste a little flat. 
• Baking Soda – This is going to act as our leavener. 
• Salt – Salt is important to balance the flavors of our cookies, don’t skip it!

Glaze

• Icing Sugar – This is the same as confectioners sugar. This is going to give us a nice sweet flavor and smooth texture to the glaze.
• Orange Juice – Freshly squeezed.

This recipe is super simple! I use a stand mixer to keep it simple, but you can make the dough by hand if you like. It’s really easy either way. Once the dough is made you just form it into balls, place them onto a baking sheet, and pop it into the oven.

Before you begin making the orange cranberry cookies, preheat your oven temperature to 375°F (190°C). It’s important that the oven is hot enough when the cookies go in to bake. Then line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. However, if you don’t have any parchment paper on hand you can also spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with oil. 

Next, let’s start the cookie dough! First, add the butter and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Then cream them together with the paddle attachment on medium speed for about 2 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Next, add the egg, orange zest, vanilla, and orange juice to the bowl. Now, mix everything together for 1 more minute or until it’s well combined. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time with a rubber spatula during this whole process of mixing the wet ingredients together. Also, using a microplane as a zester for the orange will save you loads of time.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix everything together on low speed just until combined. Now, stir in the cranberries trying your best evenly distribute them throughout the dough without over-mixing.

With the dough made, it’s time to form the cookies and place them about 2 inches apart from each other on the prepared baking sheet. I use a medium size cookie scoop to form my cookie balls and find that it is the easiest way to do this step. You can also take 2 tbsp size spoonfuls of dough and form it into balls.

To bake, put the formed cookies into the preheated oven and bake them for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are just starting to turn golden brown and the bottoms are done. It’s important not to overbake the cookies, so check them at 9 minutes and go from there. In cookie baking an extra minute more or less can make a big difference in the outcome. 

Remove the baked cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. This gives them time to set and prevents them from falling apart. Then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Once the cranberry orange cookies are completely cool, you can make the yummy glaze. Just whisk the powdered sugar and orange juice together in a medium bowl until smooth. Next, use a teaspoon to drizzle the glaze over the cookies. Then give the glaze a few minutes to set before serving the cookies.

Storing

Store leftovers cookies in an airtight container, in the fridge for up to a week. If you have any leftover glaze, it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week as well.

Freezing

Yes these can be frozen, but the question is.. will you have any left to freeze? To freeze them, store them in an airtight container for up to a month.

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