These cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies start with my classic shortbread cookie dough with finely chopped toasted pistachios and tart-sweet dried cranberries in every bite. They're thick, buttery cookies flecked with all-natural red and green, which makes them a natural fit for your holiday cookie tray.
I originally made these cookies because I searched a long time for a shortbread cookie recipe where the cookie retained its shape and didn't spread.
After testing different ratios of butter, flour, and sugar, I found that a simple 3-2-1 shortbread dough helps the cookies hold their shape without spreading and these were the first shortbread cookies I made for the blog.
This red and green shortbread cookie is very festive and one of my most popular recipes at Christmas time. I also used as the inspiration for my apricot and pistachio shortbread cookies and chocolate and hazelnut shortbread.
Update to My Original Shortbread Recipe
My original recipe used a cookie cutter, but one of the issues with that method was cutting cleanly through nuts and dried cranberries.
Based on my experience and feedback from readers, I've added instructions rolling the dough into a log, and slicing it into rounds. The dough logs take up less room in the refrigerator, it's easier to get clean slices, and they freeze easily for later.
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Cheryl's Baker's Notes
- I use fewer add-ins than I used to. I've learned a lot about shortbread since I first published this recipe. One of the things I learned is that too many add-ins make it hard to form a cohesive dough and get clean cuts, whether you use a knife or a cookie cutter. I cut back the amount pistachios and cranberries so the dough holds together, but I still get cranberry and pistachio in every bite.
- More salt for the sweetened cranberries. Sweetened dried cranberries are infused with sugar, so they add more sweetness than you'd expect. I increased the salt in this version. It sharpens the butter and pistachio flavor and keeps the cookie from tasting only sweet.
- Lemon zest was a Flavor Bible idea that worked. The Flavor Bible lists lemon zest as a pairing for both pistachios and cranberries, so I tried and it works really well. The lemon adds brightness and balances the sweetness of the cranberries. If you love cranberry and orange together, try my cranberry orange cookies. The lemon zest is totally optional.
- Chop the add-ins small. Big pieces of cranberry and pistachio drag through the dough when you slice it and tear the edges. Small pieces let the knife or cookie cutter go through cleanly. That's why I chop the cranberries in a mini food processor.
Cranberry Pistachio Cookie Ingredients
- Dried Sweetened Cranberries: My biggest piece of advice for dried cranberries is to buy a fresh bag right before you make this recipe. Do not grab that bag that has been sitting in the back of you kitchen cabinet all year long.
- Pistachios: There are multiple pistachio varieties. For this recipe look, for raw and unsalted pistachios. You can buy them shelled or unshelled, but I recommend shelled because it will be less work. Taste the nuts before you start making this recipe to ensure they haven't gone bad and don't have an off taste.
- Lemon Zest (Optional): This is an optional ingredient. If you do use lemon zest, use lemons that have a slight shine to the peel. Lemons with dried peel won't provide much zest or flavor because most of the lemon oil would have evaporated. Zest the lemon directly into the sugar and rub the ingredients together with your fingers before adding sugar to the rest of the ingredients.
Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How To Make Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread
Step 1: Toast and finely chop the pistachios.
Step 2: Finely chop the dried cranberries in a mini food processor or with a sharp knife.
Step 3: Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until creamy and smooth.
Step 4: Mix in the flour until dough comes together.
Step 5: Add the chopped pistachios and cranberries.
Step 6: Mix until the add-ins are distributed throughout the dough.
Step 7: Divide the dough and shape into 2 dough logs.
Step 8: To keep their round shape while chilling in the refrigerator place each inside paper towel cardboard rolls that have been cut in half lengthwise.
Step 11: Cut one dough log at a time into 1/2-inch thick pieces
Step 9: Place 12 cookies on a parchment line baking sheet.
Step 10: Bake the cookies until they are light golden brown on the bottom.
Troubleshooting Your Cookies
- The cookie dough would not come together and remained crumbly. It's supposed to look crumbly right after the flour goes in but will eventually come together. If it never comes together smoothly, the butter probably wasn't fully mixed with the sugar before you added the flour.
- My slices cracked or crumbled. Small cracks on the edges are normal and those pieces can be pressed back into the dough. If the slices completely crumbled the dough was too cold
Did you make this recipe? If so, please leave a rating and a comment below.
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Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Equipment
- Half Baking Sheets
- Mini Food Processor optional
- Quarter Baking Sheets optional
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (80 grams) unsalted raw pistachios
- 1/2 cup (80 grams) dried sweetened cranberries
- 4 ounces (113 grams) granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons (3 grams) lemon zest (about 1 large lemon) optional
- 8 ounces (227 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1-1/4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 12 ounces (340 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
Instructions
Make the Cookie Dough
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Toast the pistachios for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and then finely chop them.
- Place the cranberries in a mini food processor and process until cranberries are finely chopped into small pieces. If you don’t have a mini food processor, chop them by hand with a chef’s knife.
- Optional lemon zest: If you’re adding lemon zest, place the sugar in a small bowl. Using a Microplane or other fine zester, zest the lemon directly into the sugar. Remove only the yellow peel; the white pith underneath is bitter. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar for about 1 minute, until the sugar is damp and fragrant. Rubbing the zest into the sugar releases the oils in the zest, so the lemon flavor spreads evenly through the dough. If you’re not using lemon zest, skip this step.
- Pour the sugar (or the sugar-lemon mixture, if using) into the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, vanilla extract, and salt. With the paddle attachment mix on medium speed until the mixture is well combined and smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl and add all the flour at once. Mix on low speed until no dry flour remains; the dough will look crumbly. Increase the mixer speed to medium and mix until the dough has completely come together. Add the pistachios and the cranberries and mix on low speed until they are well combined into the dough.
Choose Your Shape
- You can shape the dough into logs for slice-and-bake cookies, or roll it out and cut it with a cookie cutter. Both versions bake at the same temperature and for the same amount of time.
Slice-and-Bake Cookies
- Weigh the dough and divide it into two equal-sized pieces, about 420 grams each. On a lightly floured surface shape each piece of dough into a log that is about 7-inches long and 1-3/4-inches in diameter.
- Wrap each dough log in plastic wrap or wax paper. Twist the ends to make sure they are completely closed.
- Chill the dough logs for at least 1 hour. If you chill the dough for more than 2 hours or overnight, you will need to let the dough logs sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before they are soft enough to slice.
Rolled Cut-Out Cookies
- Line a quarter sheet pan or flat board with parchment paper. As soon as the dough is mixed, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out to 1/2-inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a 2-inch round cookie cutter and place them on the parchment, right next to each other. Prick the center of each cookie once with the tines of a fork.
- Gather the dough scraps, reroll them to 1/2-inch thick, and cut out and prick more cookies. When the first layer is full on the sheet pan, cover it with a piece of parchment paper and place the next layer of cookies on top. The parchment is used so the cookies don’t stick to the pan or to each other.
- Chill the cookies for 30 minutes.
Bake the Cookies
- Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 300°F (150°C). Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper if you’re making slice-and-bake cookies.
- Slice-and-bake cookies: Remove one dough log from the refrigerator. Cut a little dough off the ends, so they are perfectly straight. Mark the logs at 1/2-inch intervals using a ruler and slice it into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Use a sharp knife and as you slice, use a gentle sawing motion to cut cleanly through the nuts, instead of pushing straight down. Place 12 cookies on the baking sheet, evenly spaced.
- Cut-out cookies: Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and place 12 cookies on the baking sheet, evenly spaced. Keep the rest of the cookies in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
- Bake the cookies for 22-25 minutes. The tops of the cookies will have a matte finish, and the bottoms will be slightly brown.
- Take the cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a wire cooling rack.
- Bake the next batch, following the directions above. If you’re using one baking sheet, let it cool completely before baking the next batch of cookies.
Store the Cookies
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1 week.
Notes
- To make it easier to mix and cut the dough, I reduced the pistachios from 100 grams to 80 grams, and I reduced the cranberries from 85 grams to 80 grams.
- I increased the kosher salt from 3/4 teaspoon to 1-1/4 teaspoons because that saltiness balances the sweetness of the dried cranberries.
- I added directions for shaping the cookie dough into logs for those who might prefer a slice and bake cookie.
- Lemon zest is added as an optional flavor. I love the flavor of the lemon zest, but feel free to leave it out.
Izz says
I have tried this recipe and it was delicious. Didn't have cranberries so used a nut mix (pistachio, almond and peanut) but didn't change anything else. Can you let me know the correct temperature? because in the start of the recipe it says 350 and later on it says 300 F. I baked at 300 and it look so much time so i increased it later.
Cheryl Norris says
Thank you for writing and thank you for trying the recipe. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
The 350 degrees at the beginning of the recipe is for toasting the nuts. The 300 degrees is for baking the cookies at a low temperature so they barely brown, which is why it takes 25-30 minutes to completely bake. You can bake the cookies at a higher temperature (350 or 325) just be sure to start checking them after 12-15 minutes. It sounds like you had good success at baking at a higher temperature, so I'm glad it worked out.
Nancy says
Hi, just discovered your site looking for a chocolate hazelnut shortbread recipe, which referred to this flavor combo too. Both sounds so delicious and ones I would like to try. I think they will be perfect for my cookie boxes to give as gifts for the holidays Wondering if you use regular butter or European butter for these cookies. Looking forward to trying your recipes.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Nancy
Thank you so much for visiting the blog. I really appreciate it. Hazelnut and chocolate are one of my favorite combinations. For these cookies are I use regular butter like Challenge Butter. Be careful to not use cheap butters, which tend to have a higher water content and will produce a crumbly cookie. I learned this the hard way.
Rebecca says
Hi!! These look so beautiful and delicious. I’m making them now, but my mixture is quite sandy looking… can you tell me if this is normal? Do I just need to mix it longer?
Cortney says
Same here. I was so looking forward to these cookies, but my mixture never came together. It was very crumbly and dry.
Asneel pritika Prasad says
That happened to me as well. I added 100g (individual yogurt cup) of vanilla Greek yogurt. It turned out perfect.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Cortney
I'm so sorry the cookie dough is not coming together. I've not had this issue when making the cookies. Did you weigh the ingredients on a scale? What brand of butter did you use? Any information you can share with me, will help me figure out the issue. Thank you.
Sylvie Denning says
HI, I love your blog! I discovered you by accident. My cookies are cooling in the fridge now, but I just wanted to comment to the others that thought they had to bake so much longer. I was wondering if my oven wasn't properly calibrated, so I purchased an oven thermometer; my oven is way off. I set the oven to 300F, when the dinger went off, the oven thermometer only registered 250 degrees! I am so glad I made a less than $10. purchase to figure out my baking problem. Just wanted to contribute what I learned
Thank you.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Sylvie
First of all, thank you for the compliment on my blog. And thank you for that information on calibrating your oven. I'm glad you were able to figure out the problem. I had that same issue with a new oven and couldn't figure out why my cakes only baked properly on the convection setting. I finally called for repair and they confirmed that the oven wasn't properly calibrated.
Jen says
My cookies taste great..but they did not maintain their shape..they spread and are thinner. Rereading the recipe I neglected to sift the flour, could that have done it? Otherwise..you made this non-baker look good!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Jen
I'm so glad to read that I made you look good and that the cookies taste great. The most likely cause of the cookies spreading would be too little flour. The other potential cause is not chilling the cookie dough before the cookies went into the oven.
Ramya says
This looks so delicious cannot wait to try it.can you suggest which cranberries are best .I saw your post in instagram saying not to use dried ones from long time..little confused 😊
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Ramya
Any brand of dried cranberries will work with this cookie, but the dried cranberries dry out and get hard the older the package even if the package hasn't been opened. Which is why I recommend that you get a fresh package of dried cranberries, it will make the cookie easier to cut.
Josephine says
These sound lovely. Can I use a hand mixer?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Josephine
You can use a hand mixer, but it will take longer for the dough to come together once the flour is added, which is why this recipe works better with a stand mixer.
Carol says
I did the lemon recipe and they were perfect. I weighed everything. Kneaded the crumbly mixture came together perfectly. Trying this one out next because the lemon was awesome. Weighing is a must.I used Costco butter. This will be my go to shortbread recipe! Love it!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Carol
I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed the lemon shortbread cookies and that you plan to make the cranberry and pistachio shortbread cookies.
Alyssa says
I am also struggling with the mixture. It is not coming together and I used challenge butter and I weighed all of the ingredients.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Alyssa
If the dough has started to come together to the point that the dough has started to come together so it looks like peas, pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough together for about 30 seconds.
Marquitta says
Super easy to make.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Marquitta
Thank you. I hope you enjoyed them.
Joyce says
Do you know if plant-based butter would work with your recipe? TIA!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Joyce
I don't know if plant based butter will work in this recipe. I am getting ready to test it with solid coconut oil to see how well it does.
Doris says
Please translate in cups
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Doris
I recommend that you weigh the flour, sugar, and buter, but here are the ingredients in volume measurements:
All-purpose flour: 2-3/4 cups using the spoon an sweep method
Granulated Sugar: 1 cup + 1 tablespoon
Unsalted Butter: 16 tablespoons or 1 cup
Make sure you're very precise when measuring the flour. If you add too much flour the dough will be dry and crumbly and won't hold together. I hope this helps.
Wendy says
How is this a 3-2-1 recipe?
I thought 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part sugar?
I would love to start making these again using your recipe. I’ve done it before and I thought it was great but the recipe I used before was to turn the doughy into a log and I didn’t have to use a stand mixer.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Wendy
The 3-2-1 comes from the ratio of flour, butter, and sugar - 12 ounces of flour, 8 ounces of butter, and 4 ounces of granulated sugar. I hope this answer helps. Please let me know if you have more questions.
Susan Thomas says
Is the flour 1 1/2 cups before or after it's sifted or does it not matter? Also, at the beginning of the recipe it says preheat the oven to 350 but later in the recipe it says 300?? Thank you for the clarification! (PS I'm making the cranberry/pistachio shortbread) Susan
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Susan
Thanks for your questions. The 350°F is for toasting the nuts. It later says to preheat the oven to 300°F to bake the cookies. I added verbiage to the recipe for clarification on the baking temps. There are 12 ounces of flour in the recipe and it's sifted after it's weighed. I'm not sure where you got the 1-1/2 cups from.
Michelle W says
Looking for ingredient measurement confirmation - for the flour are you sifting before or after weighing? I understand the importance of ratios in this recipe and just want to make certain. Thank you
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Michelle
I sift the flour after weighing it.
Katy says
I wanted to love this, but like some other commenters, I weighed all the ingredients and chilled the cookies before baking but they all spread. Even when cooled, they fall apart too easily. There clearly wasn’t enough flour in the mixture, despite weighing.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Katy
I'm sorry this recipe didn't work for you, but I have never had these cookies or any of my other shortbread cookies spread. I agree it sounds like you didn't add enough flour (or could it have been too much butter). I would like to troubleshoot the issue if you're willing. Did you use all-purpose flour? When you weighed the flour, was anything touching the scale? If the scale is not level or something is touching it like a container or bag, that will throw off the measurement.
Ariana says
Can the dough be refrigerated for a day or two before baking, or is it best to freeze it instead if making the dough in advance? Thanks!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Ariana
You can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days. Make sure to cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out. If you're just refrigerating the dough for a 2-3 hours you don't need to cover it with plastic wrap. You can also freeze the dough if you want to make room in your refrigerator. If you freeze the dough, bake the cookies straight from the freezer.
Sally says
I'm making the shortbread cookie with cranberry and pistachio. The dough was a great consistency to work with and they look like they will be delicious! But at the beginning of the recipe it says to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and later when it's time to put them in the oven, it says to preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Which temperature is correct or am I supposed to lower the temperature to 300? Thanks!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Sally
I'm sorry for getting to your question so late. We had a family emergency right before Christmas. With regard to oven temperature - the 350°F is for toasting the nuts and the 300°F is for baking the cookies.
Rosalva Arredondo says
Hello. Can’t wait to make these! Is it possible to roll into a log, chill and then slice cookies into rounds and bake?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Rosalva
Yes, you can roll the dough into a log and slice them. Follow the directions in the Chocolate Orange Shortbread Cookie recipe for directions on shaping the dough into logs, chilling, and slicing.
Rhonda says
Made your cookies for a Christmas party. They were a huge hit. Everyone wanted the recipe.
Kaecat says
Do you think it would work to shape the dough into a log and cut in slices rather than rolling it out?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Kaecet
I just tested this recipe using the slice and bake method, where you roll it into a log first, so yes, that method will work for this recipe.
Stacy says
This is a great, straightforward recipe. I didn't have a cookie cutter, so I used a wine glass. I have a small kitchen and this recipe required very little space for preparation. My cookies came out super delicious and beautiful. I will be giving them with Christmas gifts.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Stacey
Thank you for trying this cookie recipe and leaving such a nice review. I'm glad you found the cookies delicious.
Stacy says
I made these a second time a couple days ago. I used 4oz each of the pistachios and craisins and the cookies still baked up great. I gave some to a friend for the holidays and she loved them. I would highly recommend using a good quality butter for better buttery flavor as well as the other reasons the author mentioned. I will try adding a little vanilla next time too. I didn't have a rolling pin handy or cookie cutter, so I used a wine bottle wrapped in Saran wrap and a wine glass. I made the dough first and cut out the cookies, put them in the refrigerator, then baked them when I got home. They turned out perfectly. This is a quick, easy recipe you can have fun and be creative with. With only 5 ingredients, you won't forget anything either.
Wayne says
Super easy recipe to follow, and absolutely delicious cookies. I entered the Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread cookies in our Holiday Cookie competition at work and Won 😁
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Wayne
Woohoo! My recipe helped you win a cookie competition. Thank you for trying this recipe and leaving this fantastic review. I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Wayne says
Cheryl,
Thanks so much for having this recipe on the Internet. We have a cookie competition at work during the holidays, so I entered these Cranberry and Pistachio cookies and Won 🏆
Your recipe is super easy to follow and they are just so Yummy! I weighed the ingredients and followed the recipe exactly as listed and had no problem whatsoever with the dough not coming together.
Winning the competition may have gone to my head - just a little, that I decided to also make these using Apricots and Pecans, which were just as tasty.
I'll be back at your site for another winning cookie recipe next year!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Wayne
Thanks for letting me know the recipe came together for you. I'm also glad that you took the recipe and tried your own flavors. And thank you for the plans to come back next year! 😊
Susan says
Hi! I measured, sifted, etc. but they were dry... Yummy but dry. I did forget the 20 minutes in the fridge (I don't mind if they spread) Do you think that may have messed things up? I'm thinking that I pulsed the pistachios too much and it acted like additional flour maybe? Did you put a glaze on the top? It kind of looks pink on the top in your photos.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Susan
Thank you for making this recipe and I'm sorry they didn't quite turn out. I'm glad you enjoyed the take though. If you pulverized the pistachios instead of chopping them it's possible they acted more like a nut powder in the recipe which would produce a drier cookie. I didn't add a glaze in the original recipe, but you can definitely add one to this recipe. Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm happy to help.
Susan says
I put 3 slices of bread in with them on top of a piece of parchment paper and that made them moist again - they actually came in 2nd place @ the hospital bake off! I did finely chop the rest of the cranberries and boil them with water and sugar, ran that thru the sieve and used the liquid to make a tart glaze with sifted powdered sugar - topped with the pistachio "dust" - they turned out very yummy!
Jill says
Hello-
Have you ever tried this recipe with almond flour?
Jill
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Jill
I been testing these with almond flour, but I haven't gotten the recipe to work yet. The cookies end up crumbly and easily fall apart.
Paula P says
That answers my question, thank you.