Cranberry Cinnamon Caramelized Walnut Cookies
These cookies are packed with cranberries, nuts, and flavor. You can buy or make your own caramelized walnuts, but it adds a special taste to these cookies either way. For this recipe, I purchased the caramelized walnuts from Wegman's here in Lancaster, PA.
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories: 149kcal
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) Butter unsalted room temperature
- 4 oz (4 oz) Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1 cup (120 g) Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar white
- ¼ cup (55 g) Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 (1) Egg
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Orange zest
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Orange juice
- 1 ¾ cups (218.75 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) Ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (121.21 g) Dried cranberries
- ½ cup (118.29 g) Cinnamon Chips
- 1 cup (236 g) 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°F (175°C or 180°C). 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 149kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 96mg | Potassium: 19mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 198IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg