White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
7 Comments
Posted: 11/18/22
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White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are soft, chewy cookies stuffed full of sweet white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. The perfect sweet and tart combination perfect for holiday cookie trays or anytime of the year.
Celebrate the cooler weather with these gorgeous White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. The soft cookie base holds luscious white chocolate chips and sweetened tart cranberries. They’re an ideal holiday cookie or great for a midday snack anytime.
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Why You’ll Adore These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies!
- A great make-ahead cookie. Since the dough needs to chill for a few hours before scooping, you can make this dough the day before. Or scoop and freeze the dough, so it’s ready to bake when you are.
- Balanced in flavor. The taste of zingy cranberries is smoothed out by sweet white chocolate.
- They have a long shelf life. Once baked, they’ll last for up to a week in an airtight container. No refrigeration is required.
- The dough comes together quickly. You can have the dough together in about 15 minutes before leaving it in the fridge to chill.
Ingredients Needed for White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
- White chocolate chips – White chocolate chips add creamy sweetness and a festive look to these cookies.
- Dried cranberries – Tart, chewy cranberries add a delightful texture and flavor contrast to the white chocolate chips.
- Butter – Butter adds richness to these cookies. Make sure your butter is softened to room temperature so it can cream properly with the sugars.
- Dark brown sugar – Dark brown sugar adds chewiness and a scrumptious hint of molasses to the cookie dough. Light brown sugar can be add but the depth and rich taste won’t be as noticeable.
- Granulated sugar – White sugar helps create the cookie base and holds in moisture.
- Egg – The egg binds the cookie dough together and adds richness.
- Vanilla extract – Like most cookies, these benefit from the lovely aroma of pure vanilla extract.
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch helps make these cookies more tender.
- Baking soda – This leavening agent helps the cookies rise and spread.
Helpful Tools
How to Make Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies!
Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg and vanilla, mixing until thoroughly combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times as you go.
Stir in the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda until combined.
Fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberries.
Cover the dough and chill for at least 3 hours (up to 3 days).
Scoop the chilled dough into balls, about 1½ tablespoons each. Place on a lined cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes in a 350°F oven until just golden.
Cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes so the cookies can fully set.
Transfer the finished cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Pro Tips!
- To save time, you can make the dough up to three days before baking.
- To freeze these, you can scoop and freeze the cookie dough (more instructions on this in the FAQ below). Or you can freeze the finished cookies in a sealed freezer-proof bag.
- Don’t skip the cornstarch in this recipe. It may seem like an unusual addition, but it makes the cookies extra soft once they’re baked.
- Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll last for at least a week.
- Don’t love white chocolate? No problem- feel free to use dark or milk chocolate chips instead.
- Avoid dropping the cookie dough onto warm cookie sheets. Let them cool before scooping the next batch onto them.
- The amount of dough you scoop for each cookie will impact the baking time. So if you make smaller cookies, reduce your baking time, and increase it for bigger ones.
Serving Suggestions
White chocolate cranberry cookies go great with a hot beverage. Skip the coffee shop and enjoy these with a White Chocolate Latte or my copycat Caramel Macchiato.
For a little extra holiday flair, try them with an Eggnog Latte or Christmas Coffee.
And for the kids, Whipped Hot Chocolate with these cookies on the side is a perfect after-school treat.
Can I bake the dough as soon as it’s mixed and skip the chilling step?
Don’t skip the step of chilling the dough in the refrigerator. The cookies will spread too much and turn out thin if they’re baked before chilling. If you’re in a hurry, you can put the dough in the freezer, and it will be ready in about an hour.
Can I freeze the cookie dough and bake it later?
This dough can indeed be frozen. Scoop it into equally-sized balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and place in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, store them in an airtight container and they’ll last up to 3 months.
How do I bake these from frozen?
Place the frozen dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake at the same temperature. They’ll need 1-2 minutes extra to bake fully.
What if the cookie dough is too hard to scoop after refrigerating overnight?
If your cookie dough is too firm to scoop after chilling, leave it at room temperature to warm up for about 30 minutes.
If you are looking for the perfectly sweet and tart cookie that’s chewy and delicious these easy White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are the answer! Fill your cookie jar with them this fall or make them for all of your holiday gatherings.
More Easy Cookie Recipes!
- The perfect amount of cinnamon and pumpkin spice make these soft, chewy Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies irresistible!
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are so soft and chewy. Always a hit!
- Perfectly soft and chewy classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that have perfect amount of spice mixed in!
- These quick and easy Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies only require six ingredients that you probably already have!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Soft, chewy White Chocolate Cranberry cookies full of white chocolate chips and dried cranberries!
cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper set aside.
- In a large bowl cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla scraping sides of bowl as you go.
- Mix in flour, cornstarch and baking soda. Stir in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
- Chill dough for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Drop balls of dough on lined cookie sheets. Top with extra white chocolate chips if desired.
- Bake 8-9 minutes in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until barely golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes. They continue to firm as they sit on the cookie sheets. Remove to wire rack.
Tips
- Do not drop cookie dough onto warm cookie sheets. Let them cool before making next batch.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1, Calories: 167kcal (8%), Carbohydrates: 23g (8%), Protein: 1g (2%), Fat: 8g (12%), Saturated Fat: 5g (31%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 16mg (5%), Sodium: 54mg (2%), Potassium: 40mg (1%), Fiber: 0.5g (2%), Sugar: 15g (17%), Vitamin A: 179IU (4%), Vitamin C: 0.04mg, Calcium: 21mg (2%), Iron: 1mg (6%)
Recipe From: Sally’s Baking Addiction
Marisa says
Hello. Is it possible to freeze the dough and then defrost and bake in a couple of days. Will they turn out fine as well?
Great recipe anyway!
Thanks
Julie Evink says
I haven’t actually tried this so I can’t guarantee anything although I can’t for see any problems with doing it! If they will turn out as well, I don’t find that anything frozen is ever as good as it is fresh!
Marisa says
Thank you ! I can’t wait to try them!
xxx
sally @ sallys baking addiction says
I’m so glad that you tried my cookies. I love this recipe! Perfect for the cookie jar this time of year. Thank you for all the kind words about my blog and I!
Julie Evink says
Your recipes are always fabulous! Thanks Sally!
Victoria Lloyd says
I’ll 2nd. that.
victoria lloyd.
My Comment;
Thanks for the White Choc. Cranberry Recipe, reminder. I made these for a Party, last yr. and everyone thought they were spectacular. (I didn’t make enough). So, with the Virus and not knowing what Our plans are, I will still make these Cookies but may have to double the recipe. They were that Good! (We don’t have Covid), but Everyone Have A Safe and Healthy Christmas. And Thank you to this Site for All the Cookie Recipes. I’m A Member and will check out the other Cookie recipes! Thanks, again. Victoria Lloyd
Julie says
I’m so glad you love these cookies, Victoria! Thanks for the comment, have a safe and wonderful holiday season!