Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

These slice-and-bake cranberry orange shortbread cookies are packed with flavor and easy to make with just a few simple ingredients. Every bite is buttery and delicious, dotted with chewy cranberries and fresh orange zest. Don’t forget a drizzle of creamy melted chocolate!

A cranberry orange shortbread cookie drizzled with chocolate leaning against a stack of cookies.

Buttery Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

You’re going to love these soft and tender shortbread cookies bejeweled with ruby red cranberries and flecks of fresh orange zest. Not only because they’re gorgeous to look at and filled with holiday flavor.

These cranberry orange shortbread cookies are also SO easy to make. Like my cranberry almond shortbread cookies, all you need are some simple pantry ingredients and a single bowl to bring the cookie dough together for this recipe. Then, just slice and bake!

Why You’ll Love This Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Festive flavors. The brightness of the orange zest and sweet-tart cranberries are a perfect pairing for the holidays (just ask my orange cranberry bread and Chewy Cranberry Orange Cookies.)
Drizzled with chocolate. These buttery shortbread cookies are delicious on their own, and even better topped with creamy melted chocolate.
Make-ahead-friendly. These festive cranberry orange shortbread cookies are super convenient, especially during the holidays. Prepare your dough ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to slice and bake.

A spoonful of fresh orange zest next to a citrus zester on a countertop, with a zested orange in the background.

Ingredient Notes

Below are some notes on the important ingredients you’ll need to make your cranberry orange shortbread cookies. Don’t forget to scroll to the recipe card for the complete ingredient amounts and recipe instructions.

Unsalted Butter – Brought to room temperature before you begin your shortbread dough.
Orange Zest – You’ll need a large-sized orange for zesting. If you don’t have fresh oranges, use a teaspoon of orange extract instead.
Cranberries – Sweetened or unsweetened dried cranberries, chopped up into little pieces.
Chocolate – I recommend good-quality chocolate chips, like the kind from Ghirardelli. You’ll melt them down to drizzle over the finished cookies.

How to Make Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

I just love how the dough for these cookies comes together all in one bowl. It makes cleaning up that much easier, and the shortbread cookie dough is ready for the fridge in just a few quick steps:

Combine the wet ingredients. First, beat butter together with sugar, vanilla, and salt until it’s light and fluffy. Beat in the orange zest.
Add dry ingredients. One cup at a time, add the flour. Once the dough is crumbly, mix in the cranberries. Continue to beat the dough until it forms into a ball.

Orange zest added to shortbread cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.

Cranberry orange shortbread cookie dough in a mixing bowl.

Chill the dough. Separate your dough ball into two halves, and shape each half into a log. Wrap the logs tightly and place them into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours.
Slice. When you’re ready to bake, slice the dough logs into cookies and place them onto a lined baking sheet.

Two logs of cranberry orange shortbread cookie dough resting side-by-side on a countertop.

Bake. Bake the shortbread cookies at 375ºF for 9-11 minutes, just until the edges are browned. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes before moving them over to a wire rack. If you want to trim off of the crispy edges, use a round cookie cutter and do it right when they come out of the oven.

A log of cranberry orange shortbread cookie dough with a slice cut from the end.

A round cookie cutter is used to trim the darkened edges from a baked cranberry orange shortbread cookie.

Drizzle with chocolate. Once the cookies are cool, melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring until it’s smooth (see my tutorial on how to melt chocolate chips). Then, using a piping bag, drizzle the chocolate over the cookies.

A spoon dipped into a bowl of melted chocolate.

Cranberry orange shortbread cookies drizzled with melted chocolate.

Should Shortbread Cookies Be Soft or Hard?

The secret to perfect shortbread cookies is to not over- or under-bake them. Your cookies should be firm to the touch and ever so slightly browned at the edges. If they’re soft and squishy, they’re underbaked. If they’re dark brown, they’re overbaked. See the section below for more baking tips.

Cranberry orange shortbread cookies drizzled with melted chocolate, stacked on a white plate.

Tips for the Best Shortbread Cookies

Follow these tips and tricks to ensure that your one-bowl cranberry orange shortbread cookies turn out perfectly baked:

Chill the dough. Make sure that you don’t skip this step! Chilling the shortbread cookie dough is a must for perfect slice-and-bake cookies.

Avoid a flat edge. Do you know that flat edge along the bottom of the icebox cookie dough logs that comes from resting in the fridge? An easy trick to avoid it is to place your wrapped dough log upright in a glass while it chills. The end stays flat, while the log stays round!

Don’t cut the cookies too thin. Aim to slice the dough no less than ¼” in thickness, to keep the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.

Use a silicone baking mat. Lining the pan with a silicone mat (or at least a piece of parchment paper) helps to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from over-browning.

Trim off the browned edges. This is the secret to perfect cookie edges! Right when the shortbread cookies come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter to trim away the crispy edges.

If you don’t have a piping bag to drizzle the chocolate, use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Works like a charm!

Common Questions

Why is it better to use unsalted butter in shortbread?

Due to the high quantity of butter in shortbread recipes, using unsalted butter will give your cookies the most balanced flavor. You can always add a pinch of salt to taste.

Can you make shortbread with margarine instead of butter?

I always recommend butter as a first choice for shortbread dough, but yes, you can substitute a good-quality margarine instead. It’s important to note that shortbread cookies made with margarine will be softer and will brown faster.

Should you chill shortbread dough before baking?

Yes. Baking dough that’s cold from the fridge is essential in shortbread recipes. There’s a lot of butter in shortbread dough, and cold dough is less likely to over-spread while it bakes.

Close up of cranberry orange shortbread cookies drizzled with melted chocolate, stacked on a white plate.

Variation Ideas

Here are just a few of the many ways that you can make these cranberry orange shortbread cookies your own.

Instead of drizzling, you can opt to dip your cookies in the melted chocolate instead. You’ll need to melt about double the amount of chocolate in this case.
Use white chocolate. Top your cranberry orange shortbread cookies with melted white chocolate or white melting wafers.
Add nuts. If you love the extra crunch that comes with nuts in cookie recipes, stir in some chopped pecans, almonds, walnuts, or macadamias.

A stack of cranberry orange shortbread cookies in a glass dish.

Can I Prepare the Cookie Dough In Advance?

Absolutely! These cranberry orange shortbread cookies are the best during the holidays, as you can easily make the dough ahead of time. Prepare, wrap, and refrigerate the cookie dough logs up to 3 days in advance. Whenever you’re ready, simply slice and bake as directed.

You can also double-wrap the dough and freeze it for up to 2 months. Defrost it in the fridge before slicing.

How to Store Cranberry Orange Cookies

To Store. Store the baked shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. If you’re stacking these cookies, separate the layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Freeze. If possible, I recommend freezing the baked cookies before they’re covered with chocolate. Store the cookies airtight and keep them frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before adding the chocolate and serving.

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