Buttery White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies – perfect for Christmas. These holiday cookies are packed with white chocolate chips, dried cranberries and fresh orange zest. No chilling the dough – ready in under an hour!
Sweet, buttery White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies filled to the brim with all the good things in life. Boasting crispy edges and chewy centres, these Christmas cookies are stacked with juicy cranberries, white chocolate chips and fresh orange zest.
They’re quick and easy to make. And since there’s no need to chill the cookie dough, they can be ready to eat in under an hour.
If you’re looking for a new recipe to try this holiday season, you can’t go past these White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies.
Why you will love this recipe
- Simple ingredients: You don’t need any hard-to-find ingredients, only pantry staples, to make a batch of these White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies.
- Quick to make: It takes less than 30 minutes to whip up the cookie dough and have these baking in the oven.
- Festive flavours: With a pop of orange zest and juicy cranberries, these perfect cookies make for a lovely Christmas or holiday treat.
- Make-ahead: You can easily make the cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it for holiday cookie planning.
Made these tonight for the first time. Absolutely delicious and keeps people coming back for more!! Highly recommend it!
– Desire
Recipe testing
To me, there are so many beautiful flavour combinations to enjoy at Christmas. Of course, there’s gingerbread and we’ve just been obsessing over my chocolate-filled Molasses Cookies and coffee like in my Tiramisu Cookies.
But I also love all things white chocolate, like my favourite White Chocolate Rocky Road, and orange, whether it’s in the form of Orange Cookies or Orange Cake.
So I’ve taken those magical flavours and combined them to make one epic cookie.
These cookies are a spin-off of my favourite White Chocolate Chip Cookies.
But we’ve added plenty of dried cranberries for extra flavour. They’re sweet and tart and they add a lovely extra chew.
And the zest of an orange. White chocolate, cranberries and orange IN buttery cookie dough? Magical.
The oils from the zest permeate the entire batch of cookies and give them an extra special holiday feel 🎄
This White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies recipe needs to go on your holiday baking list ASAP. They’re soft, chewy and deliciously zesty.
Ingredients
You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make these White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies.
Here are some of the key items that make them extra special, including any substitutions you can make.
Butter: Use unsalted butter or if you choose to use salted butter, omit the extra salt included in the cookie dough. I don’t recommend using a butter substitute or oil for this recipe. Your butter needs to be softened – don’t use melted butter.
Caster sugar: Caster sugar is fine white sugar, but if you don’t have access to it you can use granulated sugar.
Vanilla extract: For best results, use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Avoid using vanilla essence.
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Orange: I recommend using fresh orange zest that you have finely grated. It makes these cookies really POP with flavour.
White chocolate chips: You can use any kind of white chocolate chips. Or you chop up a block of white chocolate by hand and use chocolate chunks instead. If you don’t like white chocolate, you can use whatever chocolate chips you prefer. But white chocolate, cranberry and orange are a perfect match 👌🏻
Cranberries: Instead of fresh cranberries which can be hard to find and omit too much moisture, we use storebought dried cranberries for this recipe. Dried cranberries with reduced sugar will work fine too. If you want to omit the cranberries, you could use a nut instead like pistachios or hazelnuts.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make them
You’ll love how quick and easy these chewy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are to make. You will need a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Here’s a quick snapshot of how to make them. The full instructions are included in the recipe card below.
Step 1: In a large bowl, add butter and sugars. Beat using an electric mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Add vanilla and egg. Mix briefly on medium speed just until combined.
Step 3: Add dry ingredients and orange zest and mix on medium speed until a soft cookie dough forms. Stir through white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
Step 4: Scoop dough using your hands or a medium cookie scoop (approximately 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and roll into balls.
Step 5: Place cookie dough balls on prepared cookie sheet.
Step 6: Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Storage instructions
Once completely cooled, you can keep leftover White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Make ahead: You can also make the cookie dough ahead of time. Simply roll the cookie dough into balls and freeze. When you’re ready to bake, let the cookie dough thaw at room temperature before baking as per instructions below.
Recipe tips
Here are my tips for creating perfect Molasses Cookies every time.
- Use softened butter: It shouldn’t be too soft or wet or your cookies will spread too much in the oven. If you have had problems with flat cookies in the past, you may want to consider chilling your cookie dough before baking.
- Use brown sugar AND caster sugar: Caster sugar not only adds sweetness but helps to develop those crisp edges we all love. Brown sugar lends itself to a more caramel-like flavour and extra chewiness. Who doesn’t love a chewy cookie?
- Use a baking scale: I highly recommend weighing out your dry ingredients using a kitchen scale. Too much flour can make your cookies thick, cakey and not spread properly. It’s VERY easy to overmeasure flour when using a measuring cup.
- Watch the bake time: For soft and chewy cookies, consider taking them out at 11-12 minutes. Remember cookies firm up quite a bit as they cool.
Frequently asked questions
No. These cookies will spread out naturally as they bake.
The main cause of cookies spreading too much is the temperature of your butter. As the butter melts in the oven, it causes your cookies to spread out. If your butter was very soft or melty to begin with or you over-mixed it, your cookie dough will spread instantly when it hits the oven. If you have had issues with flat cookies in the past, you can consider chilling the dough for 30 minutes before baking.
Yes! You can use this cookie dough as the base for all kinds of mix-ins, whether it’s different dried fruits, nuts or chocolates.
More Christmas cookies
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Let’s Bake
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Buttery White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
- 160 grams (1 cup) white chocolate chips, plus extra for decorating
- 55 grams (1/2 cup) dried cranberries
- Sea salt, for sprinking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays or cookie sheets with baking paper or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugars and beat using an electric mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
- Add vanilla and egg and beat just until combined. Add flour, baking soda, salt and orange zest and beat until a soft cookie dough forms.
- Stir through white chocolate chips and cranberries. Scoop cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop (approximately 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough each) and roll smooth using your hands.
- Place on prepared trays, leaving room for the cookies to naturally flatten in the oven. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
- Decorate warm cookies with extra chocolate chips. Leave cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Notes
White chocolate chips: You can use any kind of white chocolate chips. Or you chop up a block of white chocolate by hand and use chocolate chunks instead. If you don’t like white chocolate, you can use whatever chocolate chips you prefer. But white chocolate, cranberry and orange are a perfect match 👌🏻
Cranberries: Use storebought dried cranberries for this recipe. Dried cranberries with reduced sugar will work fine too. If you want to omit the cranberries, you could use a nut instead like pistachios or hazelnuts.
Storage: Once completely cooled, you can keep leftover White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Make ahead: You can also make the cookie dough ahead of time. Simply roll the cookie dough into balls and freeze. When you’re ready to bake, let the cookie dough thaw at room temperature before baking as per instructions below.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 229 Sugar: 19.1 g Sodium: 104.5 mg Fat: 10.6 g Carbohydrates: 31.1 g Protein: 2.7 g Cholesterol: 33.2 mg
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Christmas Desserts
Cathy says
These were so delicious! The little hint of orange really topped it off. I followed the recipe exactly and they were perfect!
Jessica Holmes says
Love that you enjoyed these Cathy – I think the orange makes them too!
Cathy says
I made these for our neighbour for Christmas but kept a few for us, they are DELICIOUS! Will have to make them again!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! That makes me so happy Cathy!
Amber says
Hi, do we need to presoak the cranberries?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Amber, no need to soak them! I just add dried cranberries right out of the bag.
Desiré says
Made these tonight for the first time. Absolutely delicious and keeps people coming back for more!! Highly recommend it!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed them Desire.
Bela says
These have quickly become my absolute favorite cookies, so I’ve been making them at least once a week for the past few months! The orange zest adds such a special kick, I love it. I top the cookies with some flaky salt right after I take them out of the oven though, I think that takes them to an even higher level. Thank you so, so, so much for sharing this recipe!
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Bela! A dash of sea salt sounds amazing!
Sandra says
I felt these would be great and they were! Tweaks: I added more butter and 2tbsps of lard(adds crispness). Also reduced the brown sugar to a quarter cup. Will reduce white choc chips next time, as seemed excessive to me. Added tbsp juice from orange, and needed to slightly increase flour. I Canada castor sugar is called “fruit powdered berry sugar” and I love the crispness it imparts.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked them Sandra!
Alida Murray says
Must you keep the soft chocolate cookies stored in the fridge??
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, I store my cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Preetika says
Hi made these and tasted really nice! Just wanted to ask what difference does it make to roll out the dough from hand and smoothing it vs scooping it from a ice cream scooper..asking because your cookie recipes ask to do one in some recipes in another and using the hand in another
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Preetika, glad you enjoyed the cookies! And it really doesn’t matter – whatever method you prefer for scooping and rolling is fine!
Preetika says
But is it true that rolling with hands results in flatter looking cookies whereas from scoop they turn out chunkier ?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, not necessarily, it will just depends on the individual recipe and the height of the cookie dough balls.
Joshua says
I really liked these cookies. They were so buttery and soft!
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you liked them Josh!
Karen says
Hello, have not tried this recipe yet , just wondering why so many cookie recipes are now saying to bake at 360 degrees? Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Karen, this is the temperature I use, but it’s really up to you and your oven what you bake your cookies at.