How to make…Cranberry Orange Shortbread
With an excellent orange flavour and interesting texture from the granulated sugar topping, this shortbread is a wonderful winter treat and will make a great addition to your Christmas cookie plate.
Ingredients
2½ | cups | Flour | |
¾ | cup | Granulated sugar | Divided |
1 | cup | Butter | 2 sticks (250g), cubed and cold. Don’t substitute margarine. |
1 | tsp | Almond extract | |
1 | Orange | Zest and juice | |
½ | cup | Dried cranberries | Approximately. Use more if you want. |
Granulated sugar | Optionally, you can use some additional sugar to lightly coat the shortbread slices before baking. |
Preparation
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and half the sugar.
- Dice the cold butter and combine it with the flour mixture to make fine crumbs.
- In a small bowl with your cranberries, add the other half of the sugar plus the orange zest and juice and the almond extract. Stir these together and then add to the flour mixture.
- Use your hands to combine the mixture, kneading it until it comes together as a ball of dough.
- Shape the dough into logs about two inches in diameter and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours and up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 160C/325F. Prep your cookie sheets and cooling station.
- Cut slices of the dough into about ¼ inch thick.
- Add sugar to a bowl and top the cookie slices with sugar.
- Place on ungreased, non-stick cookie sheets with a bit of space so they cook evenly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies until they are set. Don’t let them overbake.
- Remove from the oven and leave for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Then transfer to your cooling station to cool completely.
Watch us make it
Check out our YouTube video by clicking the image below to see how I make this delicious Cranberry orange shortbread, and don’t forget to like the video and subscribe to our channel while you’re there.

What about you?
We’d love to hear if you make these cookies for your family this holiday season. Share it with us using #cookies and tagging @parkerlings on your social media. If you have any questions, just ask, using the form below.
Download the free printable below to add it to your family’s recipe file today.