Description
Orange Christmas Recipes light up the holidays — and this buttery cranberry-studded shortbread, finished with a zippy orange glaze, is your shortcut to festive cookie glory.
Ingredients
Scale
Shortbread dough
- 60 g caster (superfine) sugar
- Zest of 1 large orange (finely grated)
- 125 g unsalted butter, soft but not greasy (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180 g plain/all-purpose flour
- 75 g dried cranberries, very finely chopped
Orange glaze
- 120 g icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
- ~30 ml fresh orange juice (about 2 tbsp)
- 1 tsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Infuse the sugar. Put the caster sugar and orange zest into a bowl. Rub them together with your fingertips until the sugar takes on an orange tint and smells fragrant — this unlocks the essential oils and punches up the flavor.
- Cream butter and orange sugar. In a mixer or with a hand whisk, beat the softened butter and the zesty sugar until the mixture turns lighter in color and looks fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix briefly.
- Add flour and cranberries. Stir the flour into the butter mixture on low speed until the dough almost comes together. Fold in the chopped dried cranberries. The dough will be a little rough — that’s normal.
- Form and roll. Gather the dough into a ball, press it into a flat disc, and chill 10 minutes if it feels sticky. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about ½ cm (¼ in) thickness.
- Cut shapes and chill again. Cut cookies with your cutter of choice, transfer them to the prepared tray, then refrigerate the cutouts for at least 30 minutes so they keep sharp edges when baked. Want perfect stars? This step’s non-negotiable.
- Bake. Heat the oven to 170°C (335°F). Bake the chilled cookies 12–15 minutes until the edges show a faint golden hue. Cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Make the glaze. Whisk the sifted icing sugar with orange juice and melted butter until smooth. Adjust: add more icing sugar a tablespoon at a time to thicken, or a teaspoon of juice to thin.
- Glaze the cookies. Dip each cookie face-down into the glaze, let excess drip off, then return to the rack to set. Sprinkle a little extra orange zest on top for sparkle.
Notes
- Pro tips & bold tricks
- Chop the cranberries very small so the cutters make neat edges and the fruit distributes evenly.
- Chill the stamped cookies before baking — it helps them hold shape.
- Weigh your flour for reliable texture; too much flour makes shortbread dry.
- Zest before juicing — easier and you won’t waste any citrus oil.
- Glaze only when fully cool or the icing will run.
- FYI: If your kitchen is warm, pop the whole tray in the fridge for 10–15 minutes before baking.
- Variations & ideas
- Fold ½ cup chopped pistachios into the dough for color and crunch.
- Skip the glaze and drizzle melted white chocolate instead — beautiful with cranberries.
- Turn the dough into a log and chill for slice-and-bake cookies if you want uniform rounds and less rolling.
- This recipe also sits nicely among other Cranberry Christmas Treats and shows up well on a list of Interesting Christmas Desserts.
- Serving & gifting
- Arrange on a platter with a sprig of rosemary for seasonal charm, or stack them in a clear box with tissue and ribbon — one of my favorite Cute Ways To Gift Cookies. These are classic Cookies For Holidays and double as lovely Holiday Gift Treats.
- Storage
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. Freeze undecorated cookies layered with parchment for up to 3 months; thaw overnight before glazing.
Nutrition
- Calories: 127kcal
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 1mg
- Fat: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 1g
- Cholesterol: 13mg