These cranberry orange icebox cookies are buttery, tender, and packed with tart dried cranberries and bright orange zest. The sparkling sugar edges give them just the right little crunch, and these easy slice-and-bake cookies start with dough you can make ahead. Perfect for Christmas cookie trays when you want something festive without spending three hours decorating cookies like you're auditioning for a Hallmark movie.
If you love cranberries in your Christmas cookies, don't miss my cranberry pecan cookies. They're another delicious way to get those sweet-tart little jewels onto your holiday cookie tray.
Table of Contents
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🥰 Is this cranberry icebox cookie recipe for you?
- You love make-ahead Christmas cookies. Keep the dough chilled until you're ready to slice and bake. Holiday baking without the holiday meltdown.
- You like buttery cookies with a little crunch. Tender centers, lightly crisp edges, and a sparkly sugar coating. What's not to love?
- You're a cranberry-orange fan. Tart cranberries and fresh orange zest are a match made in Christmas cookie heaven.
- You have no patience for decorating. No frosting, piping bags, or edible glitter required. We're making cookies, not entering a competition to catch the eye of Flannel Shirt Guy.
🧾 Ingredients
Just a few pantry staples, dried cranberries, and fresh oranges are all you need for these buttery little bites. Nothing fancy or hard to find, and no special trip to the grocery store unless you've eaten all the cranberries straight from the bag. No judgment.
- All-purpose flour: Nothing fancy. Regular flour gets the job done without requiring a trust fund or a trip to a specialty grocery store.
- Salt: Just enough to keep the sweetness from getting completely out of hand.
- Butter: Real butter, please. Margarine can sit this one out.
- Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give these cookies their lightly crisp edges.
- Egg: Holds everything together because apparently even cookie dough needs adult supervision.
- Vanilla extract: Adds a little warmth and makes everything taste like you know what you're doing.
- Dried cranberries: Use sweetened dried cranberries, like Craisins. Chop them finely unless you enjoy your cookie dough fighting back when you slice it.
- Fresh oranges: We're using both the juice and zest. That bottled orange juice that's been lurking in your refrigerator since Easter can stay right where it is.
- Coarse sugar crystals: Give the cookies a sparkly, crunchy edge without requiring you to wrestle a piping bag into submission. A little Christmas bling, minus the emotional damage.
📖 Recipe
Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
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Cookies
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ⅛ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- ¾ cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
- coarse sugar, optional
Instructions
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Mix in the flour and salt on low speed until incorporated.
- Add the orange juice, orange zest, and chopped cranberries. Mix just until everything is evenly distributed. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky.
- Divide the dough in half on a lightly floured surface. Shape each portion into a log approximately 7 to 8 inches long.
- Roll logs in coarse sugar crystals to cover the outsides.
- Wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the chilled dough and cut each log into 12-15 even slices, approximately ½ inch thick.
- Arrange the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to turn golden.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Refrigerating the dough overnight gives the orange zest more time to flavor the cookies.
- Chopping the cranberries finely makes it easier when slicing cookies.
- Use a serrated knife and a sawing motion to cut the dough logs into slices.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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Need another easy cookie for the Christmas baking lineup? My cranberry oatmeal cookies are worth making room for in the cookie tin, too.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍒 My cookies spread into one giant cranberry pancake! The dough wasn't cold enough. Chill the logs until they're firm before slicing, and always use cool baking sheets. We're making cookies, not a cranberry-orange landmass.
🍒 The dough crumbles when I slice it! It's probably too cold. Let the log sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. If a slice breaks, just press it back together. Nobody's calling the cookie police.
🍒 The cranberries are making the slices fall apart! Chop those little troublemakers finely. Big pieces of dried fruit can catch on the knife and drag through the dough like they're trying to escape.
🍒 My cookies turned out hard enough to play hockey! They baked too long. Pull them when the edges are just beginning to turn golden. They'll firm up as they cool, so don't wait for the centers to look brown.
🍒 I can barely taste the orange! Don't skip the fresh zest! Most of that bright orange flavor comes from the oils in the peel. Rub the zest into the sugar before creaming it with the butter for an extra citrusy punch.
🍒 My sparkling sugar won't stick! Roll the logs in the sugar while they are still soft, before chilling. Lightly press the sugar in.
🍽 More slice and bake cookies
🏡 These cranberry orange icebox cookies are proof that Christmas baking doesn't have to involve six piping bags, seventeen bowls, and a nervous breakdown. They're buttery, bright with orange, and full of sweet-tart cranberries, with sparkly sugar edges that make them look like you put in considerably more effort than you did.
The beauty of these old-fashioned slice-and-bake cookies is that you can make the dough ahead, tuck the logs in the freezer, and slice off a batch whenever you need fresh Christmas cookies. Nobody needs to know how easy they were. I certainly won't tell. 🍒
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