Cranberry Cookies are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. So many things you can add to them that make your cookies unique and just plain delicious. When creating this cookie, I was thinking of all the smells and flavors of Christmas when looking for my flavor combinations. The first thing that comes to mind is walnuts, then oranges, and finally, cinnamon.
I wanted something different than just walnuts. My thought was how to dress them up for this cookie. Of course, my favorite pass time is perusing through Wegmans Grocery store since they carry so many specialty foods. I am always finding something new every week, just going through their veggie and nut section.
I stopped at the dried fruit and nut section and saw Wegmans Caramelized Walnuts, and I thought, WOW, what can I do with these! It does not take much to entertain me these days...lol! I really like this store so glad they came to Lancaster, PA.
Wanting to add some ground cinnamon to the cookie batter but I wanted to bite into some cinnamon taste, so I add Hershey's Cinnamon Chips. Also adding the orange for a little acid and sweetness to the cranberries, making this a cookie with some big flavors. Hoping you enjoy them!
Cranberry Cinnamon Caramelized Walnut Cookies
Barbara HallIngredients
- ½ cup Butter unsalted 1 stick room temperature
- 4 oz Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 cup Powdered sugar 113 g
- ¼ cup Sugar white 49 g
- ¼ cup Dark Brown Sugar 53 g
- 1 Egg
- 1 tablespoon Orange zest 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon Orange juice fresh
- 1-¾ cups All-purpose flour 210 g
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder 4 g
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 1 cup Dried cranberries
- ½ cup Cinnamon Chips
- 1 cup Caramelized walnuts
Instructions
- Zest and juice 1 orange into 2 separate bowls. In another bowl, weigh or measure the powdered, white, and dark brown sugars setting the bowl aside. In another bowl, weigh or measure the flour, salt, ground cinnamon, baking powder and run a whisk through to blend. The caramelized walnuts that I purchased were half walnut-size, so I rough chopped them into smaller pieces.
- Using a stand or hand-held mixer mix the cream cheese and butter till incorporated about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed. Turn the mixer to low and add the bowl with the sugars to the mixer bowl. once the sugars are in corporate turn the mixer to medium speed till the sugars make the butter and cream cheese a light brown color, about 2 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and gradually add the flour mixture till the flour is incorporated. At this point, I turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides and across the bottom. Turn the mixer on for another 20 seconds till all the flour is absorbed. Turn the mixer off and add the cranberries, caramelized walnuts, and the cinnamon chips mix till incorporated and 30 seconds. Cover lightly and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Taking a medium cookie scoop, I scooped 12 mounds onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet pan. Bake for 11-13 minutes. After pulling the cookies from the oven, leave them on the pan for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. The tops will be soft, but that is good; they become more solid as they cool. The bottoms will be brown due to the dark brown sugar used in the recipe, but they also lighten when they cool. This recipe made about 2 dozen.
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