Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

It's Christmas week! There's still time to make some goodies, and if you live in the Upper Midwest, you may find yourself housebound this week due to the frigid temps coming in. Brrr!!!! Perfect for turning on the oven and doing some baking.

Or maybe soup is more your go-to for frigid days. If it is, I can recommend Red Curry Ramen with Pork, Lasagna Soup, Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Shrimp, Hearty Sausage and Potato Soup, Double Corn and Potato Chowder, and Beef and Barley Soup.

Back to cookies. These little shortbread cookies are SO easy. And so good. 

Just 6 ingredients come together (and quickly) and then you refrigerate the dough for a few hours or overnight. Then they're read to slice and bake!

They aren't too sweet, so they are a nice contrast to other cookies that may be in your arsenal... and they're so pretty with the orange and red. 

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one orange or tangerine 
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla 

Finely chop the cranberries and set aside. In a food processor, cream the butter, sugar, and zest together until well combined. Add the flour and extract, and pulse about 10 times, then run the machine briefly, just until the dough comes together into a lump or lumps. Add the cranberries and pulse just until they are distributed, but don't over process - you don't want pink dough! (or maybe you do, but you do want cranberry chunks - not sauce!) If you don't have a food processor, you can still do the above with a mixer. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and bring together with your hands until it is no longer crumbly. Form the dough into a 10-12 inch log. The longer your log the smaller your cookies will be. Wrap the log in plastic, using the plastic to smooth out the dough and help form your log. Twist the ends tight to seal.

Chill the dough for at least 3 hours, or overnight. 

Slice the dough into 1/3 inch slices and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, two inches apart. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or slightly longer if you like your cookies crisper. They will be pale on top and just turning golden on the bottom. Cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.