Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies with orange zest are a favorite cookie recipe. Orange and Cranberry make such a delicious holiday combination for Christmas and the pistachios give a nice crunch. These cookies are deliciously buttery, easy to make, crisp and just melt in your mouth. Be warned they will quickly become a favorite.
Other Christmas Cookie Recipes you will love are Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies, Soft Sugar Cookies, and Brown Butter Snickerdoodles.
One Christmas Colt's boss had given us a box of cookies from a local bakery called the Breadfarm, and it contained a delicious assortment of cookies including Orange Cranberry Shortbread Cookies.
So once we ran out of cookies I had to recreate them with the addition of pistachio's.
Orange Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies have the perfect balance of butter, orange zest, cranberries, and pistachios.
They are tender and melt in your mouth with a lovely flavor. I love that the dough can be made a few days ahead of time so you can pull out and slice enough to enjoy each day, but they also store wonderfully in an airtight container, making them great for gift giving, and cookie trays.
The Breadfarm rolls the edges in a coarse sanding sugar for a little extra decorative touch, but we didn't miss the extra sugar flavor wise.
Here's how I make Cranberry Shortbread Cookies.
First remove the zest from 1-2 large Oranges. I like using a vegetable peeler and then scraping any excess white pith off the zest with a sharp knife.
This allows a little bit larger pieces of Orange Zest than using a zester.
Chop Zest finely.
Cream together:
- 1 cup Butter
- 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Orange Zest
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
Add 3/4 cup Dried Cranberries and 3/4 cup Pistachios, and mix until well combined.
Stir in 2 cups Fluffed All-Purpose Flour or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour just until combined, being careful not to over mix.
Divide cranberry shortbread dough into 2. Shape into 2 logs 2"-2 1/4" thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 3 days.
Slice Orange Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies 1/4" thick and place on a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake cookies in a 350 degree oven for 16-18 minutes until edges are just lightly brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet to ensure centers are well cooked and crispy.
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Orange Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies are wonderful with a cuppa coffee or tea with friends, holiday cookie trays, or just a fun new cookie for Santa!
Other favorite Christmas Cookie recipes you might love are:
- Soft Chewy Lemon Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Molasses Cookies
- Peanut Butter Fudge Thumbprint Cookies
- Brown Butter Snickerdoodles
- Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
- Double Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Yield: 28
Orange Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Orange Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies are a favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch.
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 28 Min
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter
- 3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Orange Zest
- 1 tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 cup Dried Cranberries, Chopped
- 3/4 cup Pistachios, Chopped
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Fluffed
Instructions
- Cream together butter, powdered sugar, orange zest, vanilla, and salt, until well combined.
- Add cranberries, and pistachios, mix until well combined.
- Add flour, stir just until combined being careful not to over mix.
- Divide dough into 2. Shape each half into a 2 - 2 1/4 inch wide log, and wrap in plastic wrap or parchment. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with silpat, or parchment paper.
- Slice cookies 1/4 inch thick. Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
- Bake cookies for 16-18 minutes until edges are lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheets to ensure centers are cooked through.
- Store cookies in a airtight container.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
135.78Fat
8.22 gSat. Fat
4.37 gCarbs
14.38 gFiber
0.85 gNet carbs
13.53 gSugar
6.33 gProtein
1.70 gSodium
85.62 mgCholesterol
17.43 mgCalories are estimated.
© 2015 Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
41 comments
I love these kinds of log cookies! So wonderfully easy. And the flavors you have here are awesome! Yum!
Those look amazing!
I love a good shortbread cookie, and these look fantastic! The addition of pistachio is a great twist on the classic orange cranberry flavor combo. I also never considered doing the orange zest the way you described - I'll have to give it a try sometime!
I can see the intensity of the flavors you created. I have wanted to bake cookies after rolling into a log but I have not. You are inspiring me.
The moment I saw the recipe, I new I was going to love it. But on the other hand, I didn't know how pistachios taste in a cookie. Anyway I made them yesterday. They were wonderful !! (This comes from a chocoholic).
Shortbread, tick.
Cranberries, tick.
Pistachios, tick.
Orange peel, tick.
Put them all together and THESE BISCUITS ARE AWESOME!! I made them today for Christmas and although I don’t usually eat biscuits, I reckon could eat these every day. By far the best homemade biscuits I’ve ever baked or tasted (sorry, Mum). Munch, munch!
This is my family's favorite shortbread cookie recipe. It is perfection! I use the base of this recipe for many, other flavor combos.
Thanks so much.
Just an FYI, it isn't just eggs that cause problems with raw dough. Flour requires heat to kill any pathogens. I've never gotten sick from it but a few years ago there was a recall of flour due to e-coli.
Thank you so much! I just recently learned that and it was written before I found that out and didn't realize this post needed to be updated! -Serena
Can the dough be frozen and cooked later?
What are your thoughts on using finely chopped frozen cranberries instead of dried?
I wonder if you could use fresh cranberries??
I think you it would work but I haven't tested it out to know for sure.
Yes, the dough should freeze well. You could even cut the discs and then freeze them to cook when needed.
Do you suggest measuring the flour before fluffing it or after? I want to make these but don't want to upset the ratio.
Hi, Always fluff the flour before measure when baking. Flour has a tendency to compact when stored which which lead to more flour when measured if not fluffed. Thanks, Serena
Freeze dried cranberries or the crazin style cranberries? The first would be quite tart and the other no so much and chewy….
even nicer if you sprinkle them with orange flavored caster sugar before baking
Please share them, I would love dome variations!
What kind of pistachios do you use? Can I use roasted and salted pistachios?
I used Unsalted Roasted Pistachios. Roasted works great. I do worry salted might be too salty. You could always rub them between a clean kitchen towel to remove some of the salt if that's what you have on hand. Thanks, Serena
Hello,
I see your recipe and I want to try, but I’m surprise by the temperature, 350 degree, is it a mistake ?
No, that's why they get a little color on the edges. Thanks, Serena
Someone brought these to church. This is a wonderful shortbread cookie that isn't too sweet and very colorful. I asked for the recipe.
I try to eat low carb. Can you use almond or coconut flour?
I'm guessing it's 350 degree Fahrenheit which would be 175 Celsius
Yes, you are correct! It's in Fahrenheit. I'll try to update it later today. Thank you for pointing that out, Serena
These are so good! I also added some melted white chocolate chips w food coloring to decorate the top with Christmas Tree shape.
Such a cute idea! Love it! Thanks for sharing, Serena
Approximately how many cookies does this recipe make?
About 28 Cookies. Thanks, Serena
Hi! Can one use granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar
No, Powdered Sugar has cornstarch and a different texture. The shortbread would end up as tender. Thanks, Serena
Anybody try these with gluten free flour blend? I’d send some to my sister but she is off gluten.
I'd like to know too. My husband is gluten free
I made half a batch with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour, and 1/2 regular. The GF version fell apart, partly because you can’t bake them as long as 15 minutes! I would not call them a success, even when I adjusted baking time. I thought the regular wheat version also was easy to overbake, but they held together better. This is not a sweet cookie;I thought it needed more sugar.
These cookies sound delicious. But how can I make them gluten free? Which gf flour would work the best? Thanks!!
Hi! I've used Bobs Red Mill Cup for Cup in the blue bag (Not the Red Bag that isn't cup for cup) with good results for cookies and baking in the past with good results. Make sure whatever Gluten Free Flour you purchase is cup for cup some aren't and require further modifications for baking and measuring. I hope that helps, Serena
I've made these before and they were wonderful. This time, they crumbled all to pieces and I couldn't slice more than a few. What did I do wrong? Can I salvage the crumbled bits? Thanks.
I absolutely love these cookies as they are!! 2 ways I also
make them...roll the log in turbinado sugar before cutting and baking. 2nd - after baking dip half in dark chocolate.
These are great shortbread cookies and would be perfect with coffee from a Bialetti moka coffee pot.
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