Cranberry Shortbread

Submitted by Sydney Mike

"I don't usually make shortbread, but this recipe comes from a great cookbook [The Joy of Cranberries: That Tangy Red Treat], so I figure its gotta be a good one!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 5
• Yields: 4 dozen
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (no substitute)
• 1⁄2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped

directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Stir together flour, sugar & salt, then cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
3. Stir in cranberries, then form into a ball & knead until smooth.
4. Divide dough in half.
5. On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll each dough portion to a 1/2-inch thickness.
6. Use a knife & cut into 24 2"x1" strips, then place these strips 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.
7. Bake 20-26 minutes or until bottoms just start to brown.
8. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then remove & cool completely on wire rack.

Reviews

[Elyssa L.]

I have made this recipe the last several years. I prepare the dough in a large food processor, pulsing the flour, sugar, salt, & chopped up butter until the butter/ flour combo is about pea size. I don't pre-chop my cranberries first, but instead add them whole at this point. Pulse the dough until it is crumbly throughout, cutting the cranberries to smaller pieces, but not down to changing the color of the dough to pink. The dough is very sandy/crumbly at this point. Don't add more butter. I like to dump the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap long enough to wrap around the dough. Then I knead the dough to pull it together,using the plastic wrap to keep the dough in one spot.Then I pat the dough into the recommended 1/2" thickness and cut into 1" x 2" rectangles and bake on parchment lined baking sheets. I take them out just as they start to have a golden bottom edge. These turn out perfect every time! They also freeze nicely in ziplock bags.

 

[rebowman]

Omg, please kill me because I CAN'T stop eating this!! Delicious and easy. I put this mixture in the food processor to pulse it, and it turned out great. It was a little dry, so I added more butter. Then, when it still wouldn't form properly, I put it in a large baking dish, pressed it down, and baked it for about 30 minutes. It came out beautiful, nice and brown on the top, and slightly underbaked in the middle. It was a big hit at the party I took it to, and I had leftovers to enjoy at home. This is my new go-to recipe when I need a quick and easy sweet.

 

[Sarah_Jayne]

I have had my eye on this recipe for ages now but I have had no confidence at all with making shortbread. I decided this year I would give it a try and I am really glad I did because this was an easy to follow recipe and tasted great. I did need to add a little bit more butter for it to be a rolling texture I was comfortable with but nobody is going to complain about even more butter in their shortbread. I made these for a party and they vanished in minutes. I blogged about them too at my vegetarian cooking blog www.weekendcarnivore.com . Thanks Syd!

 

[Brooke the Cook in]

LOVED IT! Loved the texture, taste and the little cranberries in this cookie. I made half a batch on Friday afternoon (regret not making the entire thing now) and it was gone by Saturday. I could not keep my hands out of it. I haven't made a shortbread cookie quite like this before (maybe never before)... I wasn't able to get my dough to come together for kneading and ended up adding in 2 tablespoons (1T at a time) of half-and-half - certainly may have been my inexperience though. No matter - the end product was just wonderful - I almost made another batch today!! Will be making again! Thanks Syd :)

 

[Lalaloula]

This a wonderfully textured shortbread! I had no difficulties working with the dough and found the instructions very easy to follow. I can't give those five stars, though because I figured I would have liked it much better without the cranberries. But thats just my personal taste and I'm sure anyone who likes cranberries will absolutely devour these little gems. I'm also sure to be making this again-but without the cranberries. Made for "Tag it Red" in the TOTM-Forum.