These cranberry almond shortbread cookies are buttery-rich yet tender and crumbly. The tangy and chewy dried cranberries and the crunchy toasted almonds take these cookies to another level. And no eggs!
Shortbread, in its simplest form, is made from just four ingredients – butter, sugar, flour & vanilla extract. Originally from Scotland and a holiday favourite, these are buttery rich yet tender and crumbly.
The base shortbread dough recipe can be modified to a lot of flavours and sizes and shapes, whatever catches your fancy! You can replace almonds with pistachios, or add some chocolate chips or Tutti-frutti. You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon or even instant coffee powder for a coffee hit.
I’ve made logs of the cranberry almond shortbread cookies dough and then cut into thin rounds. You can also use cookie cutters for fancy shapes, or even just make small balls from the dough and flatten them in your palms and bake. I just can’t stop talking about how versatile this recipe is!!
Cranberry-Almond Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 225 g softened butter -1 cup
- 75 g granulated white sugar - about 1/3 cup
- 50 g honey - about 2½ tablespoons
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g all-purpose flour - 2 cups
- 1/2 tsp salt
- about 1 cup of flavour additions - I've used 1/2 cup dried cranberries + 1/2 cup almonds - toasted and chopped into large pieces
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add honey and vanilla extract and mix till well combined.
- Sieve flour and salt into the wet ingredients and mix till well combined. Don't overmix else cookies will get tough.
- Stir in the cranberries and almonds. (or any other fillings you're using)
- Shape the dough into 2 logs, wrap in cling film/plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. This firms the dough so that they retain their shapes when baked. (check the baking hack at end of post**)
- Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut into rounds or other shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet. (If cutting the logs, make sure you have a sharp knife and you cut in one motion, do not use see-saw motion, the dough will crumble. If using cookie cutters, chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes before baking)
- Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes. Edges will turn slightly brown and the centre will be soft to touch. Leave them on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before cooling on a wire rack. Once cooled completely, store in an air-tight container.
** Baking Hack for Chilled Cookies
When the log of dough is placed in the refrigerator, the bottom flattens a bit and when cut, doesn’t retain the round shape. Here’s an easy way to make a perfectly round cookie (well almost perfect) – use the cardboard centre that comes with a roll of tissue paper (Make sure it’s not the soft cardboard one). Slit it open with scissors, place your cling-wrapped log of cookie dough inside, and then chill!
I made these cookies today after making the dough and storing in the freezer yesterday. I made half the quantity as I’m a novice to baking so wanted to make sure I got them right – they were an instant hit! I got a yield of 18 cookies and more than half were finished as soon as they cooled. My first thought on tasting them was that they reminded me of the Dutch butter cookies we used to eat as kids and it was further reinforced when my 8 yr old daughter said – mummy – they’re so yummy and they taste just like the ones we got in that blue and white round tin some time ago! Thanks for sharing 😊
I am so glad you made these and loved them! Nothing makes it a better success when your family loves it 🙂 these are also quite versatile, you can change the flavors and get surprised each time.
Can i avoid the fillings will the cookies still b fine
Yes you can add fillings of your choice or avoid completely for plain cookies.
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