These bejeweled-looking cranberry orange cookies are surprisingly simple to make. You need very basic baking ingredients, and the dough comes together in just 1 bowl. (Is that music to your ears!?) The juice and zest of a fresh orange gives these buttery shortbread-like cookies a bright and cheery flavor, complemented by the sweet-tart dried cranberries. I love this flavor combo, as evidenced by recipes like cranberry orange scones and orange cranberry bread. And you’ll love the convenience of these icebox cookies! Make the dough ahead of time, pop it in the refrigerator, then just slice and bake when you’re ready. With so many Christmas cookies to make, I know we all appreciate a great make-ahead recipe.
Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
Simple, basic ingredients Easy-to-follow 1-bowl recipe Buttery shortbread flavored with fresh orange and studded with chewy dried cranberries Soft and thick in the centers, crispy around the edges Cranberry + orange combo is flavorful and colorful—so festive! A great make-ahead cookie recipe No rolling individual dough balls—just slice and bake Easy 2-ingredient icing
They’re called icebox cookies for a reason: chilling the cookie dough logs is essential. Like pinwheel cookies (another slice-and-bake style cookie), the cookie dough is very buttery and, without time in the refrigerator, will bake into greasy puddles. Let’s save the puddles for chocolate lava cakes. It may seem like an exercise in delayed gratification, but I prefer to think of it as a great make-ahead recipe! The cookie dough logs can hang out in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or you can freeze them for even longer. Simply thaw in the refrigerator for an hour or two before slicing and baking. Having some cookie dough in the freezer is such a time-saver during the busy holiday season!
Simple Ingredients
How to Make Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
Arrange on your lined baking sheet and bake. The only other ingredients you need are a navel orange (zest and juice), dried cranberries, some coarse sugar for rolling, and confectioners’ sugar for the icing. Make the cookie dough all in 1 bowl, and then divide in half. It’s quite creamy, so have a little extra flour on hand. Slice the dough logs. They’re about 7 or 8 inches, so each cookie is a bit more than 1/2 inch thick.
2-Ingredient Icing
The icing sets after 30–60 minutes, so you can easily store, stack, and transport the cookies. They may seem really simple, but these cranberry-speckled cookies were the first to go from a cookie tray I put together the other week… which also included crowd-favorites peanut butter blossoms and chocolate crinkle cookies. That says something!!!! Or you can simply dip a fork in the icing and drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Can I use white or dark chocolate instead? YES! See recipe Note for details. This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
Almond Butter Sparkle Cookies Cinnamon Palmiers Gingerbread Cookies Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
and here are my top 10 cookie baking tools if you’re looking for recommendations!
