This time of the year is all about the tastes and smell of the holidays. Cranberries are one of my favorite fruits to bake with in my cookies. They have the bright red and cheery color that everyone loves to look at.
I wanted a little crunch with the cranberries, so I choose the walnut. Cranberries can be a little tart, so adding the frosting would balance out any tartness.
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Ingredients for Cookies
- Butter unsalted
- Sugar white
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Whole Milk
- Orange juice
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Kosher Salt
- Baking soda
- Cranberries
- Chopped walnuts
Ingredients for Frosting
- Butter unsalted
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Half & Half
How to Make Cranberry and Walnut Cookies
These are fairly easy cookies to make. You just need to do a little prep work first.
Cookie Dough Prep
Weigh or measure your sugars and set the bowl aside. Next, weigh or measure the flour. Add to the flour the baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Run a whisk through to blend.
I have a 2 cup measuring cup and filled it to almost the top with fresh cranberries. It is really hard to tell how many cranberries you will need to get 2 cups of chopped cranberries.
The best I can say is start with 2 cups of whole cranberries and chop them in your food processor and see how much you get. You can always chop more if needed to make 2 cups.
Finally, juice one orange, so you have at least two tablespoons. I have used this grocery store bought juicer for years. Doesn't cost much and will last forever.
If your walnuts were not purchased as chopped already, you will need to chop enough to make a cup. Now that everything is prepped, it is time to make some cookies.
Mixing the Cookie Dough
I start by cubing the butter into the mixer bowl. By doing this, I can see how cold my butter is by how much force it takes to slice the butter. This will determine how long it will take to cream the butter.
If the butter is freezing, it will take about 3 to 4 minutes. This includes stopping and starting the mixer to clear the paddle. Cold butter will gather around the paddle, so I have to stop and take it off two or three times. But I want the butter creamed before I add the sugars.
Next, add both sugars to the creamed butter. There is more sugar than butter, so it will look more like sugar.
Next, add the egg, milk, and orange juice and mix. I turned the mixer to a medium-high mixer speed to blend them together. Scrape down the sides and turn the mixer to a low speed, adding about a third of the flour mixture at a time.
Finally, I take the bowl off the stand and add the chopped cranberries and walnuts. I do not add them using the mixer because it will break up the cranberries even more.
This shows you how many cranberries pieces there are in the cookie dough. You will get the taste of cranberries in every bite.
Scoop and Bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie sheet pans with parchment paper. I use a medium cookie scooper for this cookie. I love my cookie scooper since the cookies will come out about the same size and bake evenly.
Scoop twelve mounds onto a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 12-14 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave them on the pan for a minute before moving the cookies to a cooling rack. Let them cool completely before starting the frosting.
Frosting
Weigh or measure the powdered sugar into a bowl and set it aside.
Cream the butter so you have soft looking ripples of butter around the bowl.
I add all the powdered sugar right on top of the creamed butter and start out on a low mixer setting. Once the butter and powdered sugar has been combined, add the half & half and the vanilla extract. I only needed 2 tablespoons of the half & half.
Turn the mixer to a medium or medium-high mixer speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another minute.
After adding the frosting to all the cookies, this is the amount of frosting I had left. Just enough for everyone to get a small spoonful to try.
So you can see this cookie is just full of cranberry and walnut pieces.
Enjoy!
FAQ's
Yes, you can use dried. I enjoy using the fresh because I think it has a better tangy cranberry taste. But, it is easier to use the dried, no food processor involved.
Of course! I think a cream cheese or maybe an orange buttercream icing would be a perfect combination.
Other Cranberry Cookies
Recipe
Fresh Cranberry and Walnut Frosted Cookies
Barbara HallWould you like to save this recipe?
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Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar white
- ¾ cup (165 g) Light brown sugar
- 1 (1) Egg room temperature
- ¼ cup (61 g) Milk whole
- 2 Tablespoon (2 Tablespoon) Orange juice fresh
- 3 cups (375 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Baking soda
- 2 cups (200 g) Cranberries, chopped fresh
- 1 cup (117 g) Chopped walnuts
FROSTING
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 2 cups (240 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon (1.5 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
- 2 to 3 Tablespoon (2 Tablespoon) Half & Half
Instructions
MAKE COOKIES
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C) and line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper. In a food processor, add the fresh cranberries. I pulsed them about 6 or 7 times to get them to the size I wanted. This is up to you how chunky you want your pieces. You want 2 cups of chopped cranberries when you are finished. You will also have to juice the orange. I buy my walnuts already chopped. If you do not, you will need to chop enough walnuts for a cup.
- In a separate bowl, weigh or measure the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Take a whisk and run it through the dry ingredients to blend. Set the bowl aside. Weigh or measure the light brown and white sugars and add them to another bowl and set it aside.
- Cube the butter into the mixer bowl. You want to cream the butter before adding the sugar. Add the sugar and mix on a medium mixer speed for 3 minutes. There is more sugar than butter, so it will still look like mostly sugar. Next, add the milk, egg, and the orange juice to the butter-sugar mixture and turn the mixer to medium-high and mix until it looks fairly smooth about a minute or two.
- Turn your mixer down to low and gradually add the bowl with the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to the wet mixture. Mix for about a minute. Try not to over mix. Scrape down the bowl sides and mix for a few seconds more. Take the bowl off the stand mixer and stir in the chopped cranberries and chopped walnuts. I find this helps to keep the cookie dough from turning really red from the cranberries.
- I use a medium size cookie scooper to place 12 scoops of cookie dough onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 12-14 minutes. Leave them on the pan for a minute before moving them to the cooling rack. Let the cookies cool completely before starting the frosting.
FROSTING
- Cube the butter into the mixer bowl and cream the butter so you have soft peaks. This should take a minute or two. Add the powdered sugar on top of the creamed butter, and on a low mixer speed, blend them together. Stop and scrape down the sides and add the vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of the Half & Half. Turn the mixer to a medium-high setting for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and mix for another minute. If you like your frosting a little thinner, you can add the other tablespoon of Half & Half. I just used an ordinary butter knife to frost the tops of all my cookies.
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NUTRITION DISCLAIMER
I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.
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