Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

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4.73 from 118 votes

Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

A buttery shortbread cookie with the red of sweet-sour dried cranberries and the bright green of pistachios.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Chilling20

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Calories: 182kcal

Author: Cheryl Norris

Equipment

5-Quart Stand Mixer
Digital Scale
Parchment Paper
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

**RECIPE UPDATES**

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.

Weigh Your Ingredients: Since this cookie depends of a 3-2-1 ratio of flour, butter, and sugar (12 oz. flour, 8 oz. butter, 4 oz sugar). you'll get the best results weighing the main ingredients. Too much flour - the dough will be crumbly, too little flour - the cookies may spread when they bake.

Save Your Paper Towel Cardboard Rolls: This is a simple but effective tool for keep your dough logs round. Cut the paper towel cardboard roll in half lengthwise. After rolling the dough and wrapping it in plastic wrap, carefully place the log inside the roll, then out it in the refrigerator.

Dried Sweetened Cranberries: Get a fresh bag of dried cranberries, especially if your current bag is at least couple of months old. You want the cranberries to be plump and pliable. If they're dried out it'll be hard to cut through them.

Freezing the Unbaked Cookies: The dough logs and the cut-out cookies can be frozen for up to a month. Wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Place both dough logs in a freezer safe bag. For the cut-out cookies, chill then in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Place the cookies in a freezer bag with parchment paper between each layer and place them in the freezer.

To bake the dough logs, defrost in the refrigerator overnight, then let sit a room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing. For the cut-out cookies bake directly from the freezer.

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