Cranberry Orange Cookies Recipe

WOW! What a wonderful cookie. I just made these last night for a cookie tray and they were the best of all five varities I tried. I did make a few changes to the recipe: *I added 1 1/2 tsp of zest like some of the other reviews suggested. *I used fresh cranberries and sliced them in half (not chopped). I thought they were the perfect size when the cookies baked. *Some of the other reviews suggested adding vanilla extract, but I think that almond extract and cranberries are made for eachother, so... I added about 1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract. *Instead of walnuts, I added almond gems to accompany the extract. The gems are small enough so they don't stand out too much -- perfect for nut lovers and perfect for the rest of us! *I decided to try the cookies w/o the frosting first because of some reviews stating that the cookies were too sweet. I thought the cookies were perfect w/o the frosting, so why hassel?!! *Also, if I left them in the oven one second longer than 12 minutes, they were overcooked.

I grated one whole orange and used all the zest as it tends to have a better kick and presentation. Also instead of orange juice, I squeeze all the juice of the grated orange. Use 1/3 of the juice mix into the cookie batter (to give a more citrus-y taste) and the rest for the frosting.

Like everyone else, I thought these cookies were very good. I read the reviews before I started and took the advice of "Brooke Salt" and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of orange zest, cut fresh cranberries in half, addded 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and I used slivered almonds instead of walnuts. After baking the first tray, I found out "Loves Cheese" was also right! The first tray flatted out too much unless you like really, really, thin cookies. I had the next batch ready to go in the oven and threw them back in the bowl and added about a half cup more of flour. The next thing I saw she was right about, was baking at 350 instead of 375. I am selling mine on cookie trays and don't want dark brown edges! If you like dark brown edges, bake at 375! They were sweet and didn't need frosting, but since they were going on cookie trays, I felt they needed to be dressed up a little and didn't want the added sweetness so I melted some white chocolate and drizzled on top. Now, all that being said, isn't it amazing that over 300 people rated this cookie, most of them with 5 stars and so many of us still find fault with it? :)

A tasty and nice holiday cookie. As a previous reviewer said, these are a "soft" type cookie, and they have a nice orange flavor. Make sure you add enough cranberries - mine could've used a few more. I might add a touch of vanilla to the cookie batter next time and a smidge more orange zest. The icing was fine - I added a bit more orange zest to it.

****. TIP : refrigerate dough for at least half hour **** I made two batches. One without walnuts and one with. The batch that I did not refrigerate were quite flat and expanded two inches as well as quite mushy / soft inside and out (sticky). Tasted good but were definitely not as appealing. The batch I did refrigerate were much more plump and didn’t deflate. The outside was a perfect texture. I used a food processor to chop the 2 cups of fresh cranberries . Reminder-Definitely easier to zest a bumpy skinned orange ! Accidentally grabbed a few that were really smooth at the store. Way more work than the bumpy skinned oranges.

I gave 4 stars because the variations that others suggested were needed. I added 1/2 cup more flour and lowered the temp to 350. I cooked them for 13 minutes at the lower temp. I didn't use the glaze because they were already sweet enough.

Made it with friends and it was a blast.

So amazing! I added toasted almond slices for the nuts, 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1 cup of dried cranberries to the dough. I added 1/4 tsp almond extract to the glaze too. I used my homemade orange paste instead of the zest and juice in both dough and glaze. To make orange paste: simmer 2-4 oranges in just barely enough water to cover for about an hour. Put water and fruit in blender. Blend till smooth. Freeze paste flat. Break off chunks to use. Adds the best orange flavor.

I replaced butter with olive oil, so it didn't spread as nicely as in the photos. So I flatten the dough for the second time, which worked well. Also, because of the fresh berries, the cookies tend to become too soft and damp over the time. So I freeze the dough until the day I need them, and bake just the necessary number at 400 for 20 minutes. Then outside is cleanly crunchy. I reduced the sugar in the dough by 25% but I didn't skimp on the frosting. Grated lemon zest was also good in the frosting. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.

Quite good soft cookies, nice flavor! Minor adjustments, as several reviews suggested. *** FRESH cranberries (lightly pulsed in chopper) ***Fresh squeezed orange juice, using bits of pulp plus zest. *** Added about 1/2 C more flour *** Skipped walnuts - next time I’ll use chopped almonds, and perhaps some Almond flour. *** My only addition was 1/2 tsp. Almond Extract; next time I will use a little more. *** Had no time to make the glaze, but my cookies were good without. *** Chilled dough before baking; first batch, some bottoms burnt when I allowed the edges to get just a little browned, so I pulled them out before they looked "done". Had to quickly, gently nudge very hot cookies off of the ungreased baking sheets - they were sticking and cracking if I let them cool on the sheets- Next time, I’ll make sure to have parchment paper! *** Will try a light drizzle of white chocolate over cookies next time. (I’m not a baker, but these cookies were really delicious and I’ll definitely use this recipe again.)

These were good, but not nearly as tasty as the citrus cranberry shortbread cookies. The first batch was made exactly as the recipe stated. However, I made a lot of changes to my second batch that I felt made them tastier. I used 1 c. oatmeal and dropped the flour to 1.5 cups. (I preferred the texture with the oatmeal added) Increased the orange juice to 1/4 cup, added 1 tsp almond extract, and used the zest from a full orange. Those changes made it a soft chewy, slightly tangy treat!

Made it with minimal effort — max results.

It's a very soft cookie that I didn't expect. Maybe I should have flattened them more.

I followed this recipe exactly.. no changes were made. My husband loves it!!

These are so flavorful and delicious! I followed the recipe as written and it made 39 cookies. (I used a 1-1/2 TBSP cookie scoop.) I did not add nuts. I used Cara Cara oranges and it took 2-1/2 between the cookie and the glaze recipes. One bag of fresh cranberries yielded 3 cups chopped so I froze the extra cup of berries and will add them to a whole bag next time to get a double recipe. I didn’t have a problem with the cookies sticking, but next time I will use parchment just to make it easier.

So good and so pretty! I did use dried cranberries because that’s what I had on hand. I took them to a Christmas event and they were one of the few cookies that were all gone before people started taking leftovers home, so I’d say they were a hit!

I've made these for several years. It's an excellent cookie as is. The flavors are great. I do like using pecans instead of walnuts. I will never understand why people give less than five stars after altering a recipe. They aren't rating the same recipe. Like one here that used dried cranberries - far from the same product. They don't need freaking vanilla or almond flavors, either. The flavor is orange! Make these according to the recipe. They never fail to be a hit wherever I take them.

Wow! This cookie is AMAZING! I'm a chocolate lover, so just thought I'd make a non chocolate option for non chocoholic guests, but after tasting thus cookie, I think I've converted.

I really enjoyed this after some tweaks and will definitely make again. I omitted the glaze and did 2 tbs (so 6x the recipe LOL) of orange zest which I think really helped the orange flavor. Also, instead of chopping the cranberries, I lightly pulsed them in a blender to make them smaller and also it was just a lot easier. I might even try a bit more orange and cranberry next time!

Love this recipe. Easy to follow and they turned out perfect. Great flavour