Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

One thing that a lot of us have practiced in 2020 is baking. All of the baking trials and tribulations have no doubt helped us for this very moment: Christmas cookie time! Since we might not be able to see all of our friends and family this year, a great way to ensure the people in your life that you care about most know you are thinking of them is to drop off some homemade treats.

You can make the cookie recipe below using either an electric stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer.  

Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Prep time:  40 minutes + 3 hours inactive
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour + 3 hours inactive
Yield: ~36 cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted

• ½ tsp. salt

• 1 large egg yolk

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

• ~200g good quality melted white chocolate

• Festive sprinkles (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place butter, both types of sugar and the salt in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together the butter and sugar on low speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl. You do not want to overbeat it – you are looking for a smooth consistency but not light and fluffy.

Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix together on low speed for 1 minute. Add the flour, and incorporate slowly. The key here again is to not overwork the dough!  As soon as the flour is just incorporated, stir in the dried cranberries and turn the dough out onto a clean work surface.

Shape the dough into a large disc and cut it into 2 even pieces. Take each piece and roll it into a log that is approximately 8-9 inches long. Wrap the two logs very tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours.  

Preheat the oven to 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets.

Remove the dough logs from the plastic wrap, and slice them into ½ inch rounds, cutting off the jagged ends if necessary.

Place them on the baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake for around 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans from the top to the bottom rack and turning them 180 degrees halfway through cook time. They are done when the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and around the edges.

Once cooled slightly, carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cookies have cooled, dip half of each cookie into the melted white chocolate, and transfer them back to the wire rack. I placed the used parchment paper underneath the rack to catch any drips from the white chocolate for easy clean up after.

If you are using sprinkles, dip or decorate the cookies with the sprinkles before the chocolate hardens! 

Transfer the completed cookies to the fridge to let the chocolate chill completely. These cookies will last in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks and do not need to stay refrigerated.