If you thought I wouldn't come up with some kind of shortbread cookie for the holidays, ya'll are crazy! I love me a good shortbread cookie and I'm shocked more people don't make them because of how simple they are. You can whip up a couple batches of these bad boys and freeze some for at least a month. Then just pull it out, slice, and bake as needed. They travel well and make a GREAT gift with their 2+ week shelf life.
I wanted to make a shortbread that has some of the holiday flavors, but is different from the other cookies I was making this year. I decided I wanted to add dried cranberries to the mix and some kind of citrus. I figured lemon would be too Summer-y of a flavor, so I went with orange to brighten the taste buds. I made these bite sized cookies this year so they're little poppable guys you don't have to feel too guilty about eating, but they still deliver that buttery, melt in your mouth deliciousness that I've come to love about my shortbread.
Servings: 6 dozen
Prep Time: 15 min, with 4+ hours resting in the refrigerator
Total Time: 4 hours, 30 min
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped into small pieces
Zest of one orange
2 1/4 cup flour
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and orange zest.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the powdered sugar, cranberries, flour, and salt.
With the mixer on its slowest speed, slowly pour in the dry ingredient mixture into the butter. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times through this process.
Lay out two 18-inch long pieces of plastic wrap on your counter. Divide and scoop out the dough onto the plastic wrap, shape it into logs and wrap the plastic around each log. Mine were about 2 inches in diameter. Tighten the ends until the log is tight and all air pockets are gone. You want to make sure the log is tight, firm, and dense because if it isn't, it will crumble when you go to cut it later.
Put the plastic wrapped dough into the fridge to firm up for 4 hours or overnight. You can also keep this dough in the refrigerator up to 4 days before baking.
When the dough is ready, remove from the refrigerator and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Unwrap the log of dough and on a cutting board, cut the log into 1/4 inch slices. Place the slices 1 inch apart on a baking sheet prepared with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.
Bake for 12 minutes. The edges should just barely start turning golden when you remove them from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
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