Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies

Every holiday season I try to make new and different cookies and candies.  This year I've decided on these Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies.

Fresh cranberries, a hint of orange, crunchy nuts and a light, sweet glaze come together to make a nice little cookie.

You can make these with dried cranberries or craisins, but they're best with fresh.  The cranberry becomes soft when baked and the glaze cuts the tartness quite a bit.   

Besides the fresh cranberries, you will also use orange juice concentrate, orange zest and your choice of pecans or walnuts.  Sounds like a healthy little cookie, right?

OK, it does take a bit of butter (only ¼ cup), and brown plus granulated sugar.  Maybe not a plant-based, low sugar cookie, but they're delicious.

These Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies are easy to put together (cream the ingredients, add orange juice, zest, and flour mixture and stir in the cranberries and nuts).  

It made rather a small batch of cookies (about 2 dozen), but you can make them smaller.  They would make wonderful little one-bite cookies if you do make them smaller.

I've adapted this cookie quite a bit from an original recipe by Esther Brody    The original has a butter frosting, but I found that to be too rich for the little cookies, so I made a simple orange glaze for them.  

I highly recommend toasting your nuts and here's how..

How to Toast Nuts the Simple Way:

• Preheat oven to 350°
• Pour nuts onto a cookie sheet (I like to use parchment paper)
• Toast nuts for about 10 minutes, stirring half-way during toasting
• That's it!  Oh, and let them cool before handling.

I think you'll like these Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies.  They're soft, sweet with a little tartness from the cranberries and also have a wonderful whisp of orange flavor.

Still looking for delicious and different holiday cookies?  Try my Soft Cinnamon Roll Cookies and Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies!

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Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

Very soft cookies dotted with fresh cranberries and orange zest and topped with a light glaze.

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Ingredients

• 1 ½ Cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ C butter, softened
• ⅓ C brown sugar, packed
• ½ C granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 3 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• ½ teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 C fresh cranberries, halved
• ⅓ chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
• Frosting:
• 2 C powdered sugar, sifted
• 3 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a stand mixer bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until completely blended and almost a paste consistency (about 3 minutes).
4. Beat in the egg until well blended. Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until blended.
5. Fold in the cranberries and nuts until thoroughly mixed in.
6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes, until very lightly browned (they won't brown much). Cool on the cookie sheet.
7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange juice, vanilla and salt until smooth and creamy. Spoon onto each cooled cookie and let set for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle extra chopped nuts on top of the glaze for a pretty look and extra crunch.
8. Store in a sealed container (after glaze is set) with waxed paper between each layer.

Notes

Nuts can be optional, but they give the soft cookie and nice texture.

Make sure to use orange juice concentrate, not watered down orange juice.

To make the original butter frosting, just add ¼ cup of butter to the frosting above and mix till smooth. Thin out with a little more orange juice if needed, but you'll want it kind of thick.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 131Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 78mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 1g

Nutrition Values are Approximate