White chocolate and cranberry cookies – soft, chewy cookies stuffed with white chocolate chunks, dried cranberries and zesty orange!
Making a batch of these cookies requires serious restrain on my part. I just love the combination of cranberry and white chocolate.
I first tried it when I came across a recipe for white chocolate and cranberry cookies in Nigella Lawson’s fabulous book “Feast” (which has been my cooking bible for many years now.) I made them and fell in love instantly.
The soft, chewy cookie and the creamy white chocolate with the slight tartness of the cranberries was irresistible to me.
Back then, you would have found it very difficult to find cranberry cakes and bakes in coffee shops in the U.K, but of course today it’s a different story.
Starbucks, Costa coffee and many national supermarkets now have lots of seasonal cranberry treats to choose from in the form of cakes, cookies, and bars.
My tips for making the perfect white chocolate and cranberry cookies
The recipe I’m sharing with you today is the result of a few trial and errors. I wanted to create a cookie that was soft in the middle just like a good bakery cookie should be but chewy and slightly crispy around the edges. The key to achieving this comes down to two important factors. They are:
1. Not overbaking the cookies. They only need 8-10 minutes in the oven. If you bake them for any longer, you’ll lose that soft, slightly gooey middle. But if crispy cookies are your thing, you can leave them in the oven for up to 12 minutes.
2. Pan-banging. What the heck is pan-banging, I hear you ask?
Basically, you remove the cookies from the oven after 5 minutes of baking and sharply bang the tray against a hard surface a few times. This causes the cookies to collapse and deflate a little, which will give you perfectly crisp edges and chewy centres. I have no idea why or how it works, but it gives you fabulous cookies!
I make these and my favourite spicy ginger cookies every Christmas for little gifts – they look really pretty packaged up in cellophane tied up with some festive ribbon.
But if I’m being totally honest, I usually end up having to make another batch for presents because I always end up scoffing the first lot all by myself. Oops!
Please note I have stated in the recipe that you should chill the dough before shaping – this is not essential, but it does improve the texture and flavour of the cookies!
Want to see more Christmas recipes?
Chocolate Fudge crinkle cookies
Ginger, orange and almond bars
Mary Berry’s mincemeat loaf cakes
Triple ginger, cherry and pecan Christmas pudding
White chocolate snowball truffles
want to see more cookie recipes?
Classic soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
Double chocolate Malteser cookies
Leftover chocolate Easter cookies
Cadbury creme egg chocolate brownie cookies
White chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Did you make these white chocolate and cranberry cookies? Let me know what you thought of the recipe by leaving a comment below – and if you would rate the recipe out of 5 by clicking on the stars in the recipe card, I’d really appreciate it!
Don’t foget to tag me in your photos on Instagram #sweetsavouryblog – I love to see what you’ve been making!
White chocolate and cranberry cookies
Delicious soft baked brown sugar cookies with creamy white chocolate and a generous amount of dried cranberries and orange zest! This recipe will make 16-18 medium sized cookies.
Ingredients
- 280g plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 150g soft butter
- finely grated zest of one large orange
- 150g soft light brown sugar
- 100g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 medium egg, plus one egg yolk, beaten together
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 150g white chocolate, chopped into chunks or chocolate chips
- 100g dried cranberries
Instructions
- Grease and line two large baking sheets.
- Sift together the flour, ground cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a medium sized bowl.
- In a large bowl cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light and creamy.
- Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, then beat in the milk and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour mixture bit by bit, mixing until the ingredients are incorporated. Stir in the white chocolate chunks and dried cranberries.
- Place the dough in the fridge and leave to rest for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F.
- Roll the dough into walnut sized pieces and place on the lined baking sheets about 4-5cm apart to allow for spreading.
- Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the cookies from the oven and bang the tray down on a heatproof surface a few times to deflate the cookies. Place back in the oven for a further 3-5 minutes or until they are tinged golden around the edges.
- The cookies will still be quite soft in the middle so leave on the baking trays for about 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
The cookies will keep in an airtight tin for about 3-4 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 288Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 110mgCarbohydrates: 43gFiber: 1gSugar: 28gProtein: 3g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.
Such excellent tips on cookie making! I can’t wait to try these. Cranberries and chocolate are such a winning combination!
Thank you so much Julia! I hope you enjoy them ?
Love the white chocolate, cranberry and orange combination. Great detail recipe with step by step instructions. Will make it during Christmas holidays !!
Excellent – I hope you enjoy them! ?
I love orange and cranberry combination in bakes. Adding white chocolate is a great idea. Never knew about banging the tray to allow the cookies to deflate and collapse so that they are crispy and chewy. A good tip.
such a great flavor combo. they look delicious!
Great cookie making tips and the addition of orange to the classic white chocolate and cranberry is a great idea.
Thanks Lucy ?
These sound tasty – I’m thinking of making some as Christmas gifts for my neighbours. About how many cookies do you get from one batch?
Hi Bec – this batch will make medium sized 16-18 cookies. Hope you enjoy them!
How many does this recipe make (on average-I know it depends on size….)?
milk is listed in the ingredients but not in the process….
Hi, if you don’t make them too large you should get 16-18 cookies from the mixture ?
You add the milk at the same time as the egg. I’ll get that fixed, sorry about that! Thanks for pointing it out ?