Looking for easy cranberry recipes this month? This mouthwatering homemade shortbread takes only minutes to assemble and has a rich but simple flavor. Since I stock up on cranberries every fall, I am always looking for new ways to use them. I mean, cranberry sauce is delicious but I don’t want to eat it every day! However, I would happily gorge myself on shortbread cookies all year round! I added fresh orange zest to this cranberry shortbread cookie recipe and I think the two flavors blend beautifully together!
Table of Contents
What are Shortbread Cookies?
Shortbread cookies are seriously the simplest cookie you can possibly make. Just butter, flour, a small amount of sugar and whatever flavor or add in you want to include. Today’s shortbread cookies used cranberries and orange zest. But if you want something more exotic, try my lavender shortbread cookies. If you have a bit more time for rolling and cutting, make my easy gingerbread cookies.
What are shortbread cookies made of?
What is the difference between a sugar cookie and a shortbread cookie? Sugar cookies tend to me MUCH sweeter and have a ton more ingredients like eggs, vanilla, etc. The beauty of homemade shortbread is in it’s simple ingredients and buttery flavor. Basically, the ingredients are just one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour.
Why are shortbread cookies called shortbread?
Why do they call it shortbread? The term short, when applied to biscuits and pastry, means crumbly. The large percentage of butter in a shortbread cookie recipe makes the texture very crumbly. Hence, the name ‘shortbread’.
More Cranberry Recipes
Cranberry Blue Cheese Spread
Fresh Cranberry Butter Recipe with Orange and Vanilla
Cranberry Bliss Bar
Tips for Making Homemade Shortbread Cookies
Ok, shortbread cookies are incredibly simple to make, but, these tips will make them even easier. Use only REAL butter. There is no substitute! You will need it to be very soft. I recommend leaving it at room temperature overnight so that it is soft enough to blend easily in with the rest of the ingredients.
In addition, finely chop your add ins. You don’t want large chunks of stuff in your shortbread cookies. It will be much harder to slice. I used a food processor to finely chop the fresh cranberries. Don’t worry about baking the dough immediately. You can store the rolled dough in the refrigerator for several days.
How do you know when shortbread cookies are done?
This cranberry shortbread cookie recipe really does not really brown much, even when they are done cooking. You will just be able to see a slight browning around the edges. Do not overcook!
If you want a shape other than round, check out Amazon for some beautiful shortbread pans. You can get some amazing patterns in your shortbread by making them in a traditional shortbread pan.
Cranberry Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Thiseasy shortbread cookie recipe is perfect for fall entertaining. Make up the dough ahead of time and bake right before your guests arrive. And if you have extra cranberries, use them in my homemade cranberry scrub or makeCranberry Wreath DIY Place Cards!
Yield: 2 dozen
Cranberry Shortbread Cookie Recipe
Orange zest and freshcranberriesgive these homemade shortbread cookies loads of flavor. This Cranberry Shortbread Cookie recipe is seriously addictive!
Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time2 hours20 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh cranberries finely chopped
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
Instructions
Combine the butter and sugar. Mix on medium speed until well blended.
Add flour about 1/2 cup at a time and mix until combined.
Add cranberries and orange zest. Mix well.
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a log and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to three days
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut dough into 1/4 inch rounds.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the cookies start to brown.
Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet.
Makes about 2 dozen
Notes
This shortbread dough will stay good in the refrigerator for several days.
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician atGood Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at theUniversity of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
The most common mistakes when making shortbread are over-working the dough, and incorporating too much flour. The less you work the dough, the more crumbly and melt-in-your-mouth your shortbread cookies will be.
Compared to butter cookies, shortbread uses a higher ratio of butter to flour, and is baked at a lower temperature. This gives it its signature delicate consistency that crumbles in the mouth when bitten. It's also often baked in a pan and cut up after baking, rather than being cut into shapes before baking.
Other shortbreads might vary in texture, with some being softer or more biscuit-like. Shape and Presentation: Scottish shortbread is often formed into rounds or rectangles, and it's common to prick the dough with a fork before baking. Other shortbreads might come in different shapes or be presented in various ways.
Step 3: The Secret to the Absolute Best Shortbread
After shaping the cookies, don't rush to the oven! Instead, chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so (overnight is OK, too). A short stay in the fridge will firm up the cookies and solidify the butter. This will help keep them from spreading too much.
Use your hands to form the dough into a flat disc, then wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is ⅛-¼” thick.
If it's too warm, the butter and sugar cannot properly cream and the cookies will taste dense. Many shortbread recipes call for cold butter worked into the dry ingredients and that gives you a wonderfully flaky cookie but if not mixed properly, the results can be inconsistent.
Butter is an emulsifier and it makes cookies tender. It also adds in the crispy-around-the-edges element. Adding too much butter can cause the cookies to be flat and greasy. Adding too little butter can cause the cookies to be tough and crumbly.
Greasy mess: Extra butter means more fat, making the dough greasy and difficult to handle. Spreading like crazy: Cookies lose their shape, spreading thin and flat instead of staying nice and round. Uneven baking: The excess fat can burn easily on the edges while leaving the center undercooked.
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda.
As shortbread was made with butter, sugar and flour, it would be both expensive and difficult to get hold of the ingredients, and so became synonymous with wealth, luxury and celebrations.
Are Danish butter cookies the same as shortbread cookies? Both shortbread cookies and Danish butter cookies are very similar in texture, taste and ingredients used. Like Danish butter cookies, shortbread cookies use a good amount of butter, but normally do not use a leavener, like egg or baking powder.
Should butter be cold or room temperature for making shortbread? Always start with cold butter straight from the refrigerator. This will keep the dough from warming up, making it greasy and difficult to roll out.
Adding hard-boiled egg yolks to a basic shortbread recipe makes cookies more tender with the perfect buttery-soft texture. The addition is a sure-fire way to improve the texture of your cookies, but perhaps not always worth the extra time and effort.
Shortbread should always have a tender, melting texture, but be slightly crisp when you bite into it. It should not generally be damp or wet underneath. A classic shortbread recipe will also only have flour, butter and sugar as the ingredients (in a 3:2:1 ratio) and not egg, which could lead to excess moisture.
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