Cranberry Pistachio Cookies start with an easy to make butter cookie recipe with dried cranberries and the crunch of pistachios in every bite. They are easily made, with no rolling or cutting. Leave them plain or dress them up by dipping them in either dark chocolate or white chocolate for an extra-special finish - your choice. Either way, they're a pretty addition to a holiday cookie tray,
These cookies are perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges, entertaining, sharing with friends, or giving as gifts. The dough can be made ahead, rolled into logs and frozen until ready to slice and bake. That makes one less thing to worry about when the holidays get busy.
Here are a few more cookies to include for the holidays: French Macarons with Chocolate Raspberry Filling, Peppermint Ravioli Cookies, Almond Macaroons, and Chocolate Dipped Sweet and Salty Cookies,
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Quick Tempering the chocolate
This is an easier, quicker method of dipping cookies or truffles into chocolate so it will stay shiny and set. Just a little shortening melted with the chocolate will do the job. Heat them together briefly either in the microwave or over a double boiler and then stir or lightly whisk them together until smooth and you're ready to dip. Do not use oil, butter or coconut oil as these will not harden.
White chocolate has to be very carefully and slowly heated in the microwave. It burns really easily. I always use half power no matter what chocolate I'm melting if using the microwave but especially with white chocolate.
The heating is easier controlled by melting the ingredients over a double boiler, keeping the water at a bare simmer.
Dipping the Cookies
When selecting the container for the chocolate make sure it has a narrow top and not a wide one. While it has to be wide enough to get the cookie with your fingers into the chocolate, if the top is too wide, the chocolate won't be deep enough to top all the cookies.
Hold the cookie so the top goes into the chocolate just up to the top edge. Hold it over the container for a few seconds to allow the excess to run off, and then carefully put it on a piece of parchment to set up. If sprinkling with sanding sugar or another topping, dip only a few cookies and then sugar them. If the chocolate sets up too quickly, the sugar won't adhere.
Choosing the Right Dried Cranberries
Cranberries come in different kinds. There's fresh cranberries during the fall for use in both sweet and savory recipes. They come frozen for use all year long. Either of these will require some kind of cooking to use in recipes.
There are also sweetened and dried cranberries which are used as is in baking and for cooking. The sweetened cranberries are often softer and a better choice for baking but they aren't as tart as are the unsweetened which can be drier. For this recipe I would suggest the sweetened, mainly for their texture.
Freeze dried cranberries are also available but those are a different product and are not compatible for this recipe.
Cranberry Pistachio Cookies-A New Favorite
- Dried cranberries, crunchy pistachios and the buttery cookie dough make a great combination.
- The red cranberries and green pistachios lend these cookies beautiful holiday colors without extra decorations. Just a simple, elegant cookie.
- Or, dress them up with a dip in dark or white chocolate.
- These cookies are so very easy to make. Theres no rolling and cutting out and no special techniques.
- Great for sharing. They make a great addition to cookie trays, cookie exchanges, and homemake gifts which are always so appreciated.
- And this final one is the clincher. Just make the dough weeks ahead, roll it into a couple of logs, freeze hard, wrap plastic wrap and then film and leave them there until a few days before you need them. One less thing to make at the last minute.
Recipe Ingredients
Butter Cookies
FRONT ROW: Almond extract, egg yolk, vanilla extract
MIDDLE ROW: Toasted pistachio nuts, granulated sugar, dried cranberries
BACK ROW: Unsalted butter, all-purpose flour
Quick Tempering Chocolate
FRONT ROW: Shortening
MIDDLE ROW: Sanding Sugar
BACK ROW: Semisweet chocolate, White chocolate
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients and instructions.
Key Ingredients
- Unsalted butter yields the best, cleanest taste for the dough
- All-purpose flour provides the structure and crispness for the cookies.
- The pistachios should be toasted to bring out the creamy texture of the nut and enhance its overall flavor.
- Dried Cranberries come in two forms - unsweetened and sweetened. I use the sweeteed.
- Granulated sugar works best here as it is neutral in flavor and helps with adding a bit of crispness to the cookie.
- Vanilla and Almond Extract is one of my favorite combinations. All of one or the other may be used if desired.
- The egg yolk provides a bit of richness and helps bind the cookie dough together.
Step by step instructions
Step 1. Place the flour, dried cranberries and toasted pistachios in the bowl of a processor. Step 2. Process briefly with pulses to break up the nuts and cranberries. Do not get them too small. Step 3. Place the softened butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in a mixing bowl. Step. 4. Cream on medium until light and fluffy scraping the bowl as necessary.
Step 5. Add the egg yolk. Step 6. Mix until completely incorporated. Step 7. Add the flour mixture. Step 8. Mix on medium low to medium to form the final dough. Do not overmix.
Step 9. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (about 285 grams each). Step 10. Roll each piece into a 10" log. Wrap in plastic wrap and either refrigerate up to 3 days or over wrap in foil and freeze for 3 months. Step 11. The rolls will be really hard if chilled or frozen. Leave at room temperature for about 30 minutes or so if refrigerated or longer if frozen until they are still very cold and firm but can be cut without the cookies losing their shape. Preheat the oven to 350°F Place about 1" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. If the rolls becomes too soft to slice cleanly and hold its shape return it to the fridge for firm up, Step 12. Bake for 8 minutes, turn the tray and bake 5 or 6 more minutes untillightly browned around the edges.
Dipping tHe Cookies In chocolate
Please refer to the section above on Quick Tempering the Chocolate. The same method works for both the semisweet and white chocolates.
This technique is the same for the dark or white chocolate. Combine the chocolate and shortening in a small bowl with wide enough top to fit the cookie in to dip but not so wide the chocolate is too spread out.
Step 13. Combine the chocolate and shortening in a small narrow bowl that is wide enough to dip the cookie but not so wide that the chocolate becomes too shallow for dipping . Microwave at half power for 60 seconds to start. Remove from the microwave and let it sit for a minute or two, then stir. Return it to the microwave and heat it again for 30 seconds. Repeat the heating and stirring until everything is smooth. The chocolate may be gently whisked to speed up the melting process but be careful not to incorporate too much air as the bubbles are hard to remove. Step 14. Dip the tops of 5 or 6 cookies into the chocolate. Step 15. Hold it, still chocolate side down, above the bowl for a couple of seconds to allow the excess to drip off. Place it, chocolate side up on a parchment lined baking sheet. Step 16. Immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar while the chocolate is still wet or place a pistachio half or cranberry to top of a dipped cookie without the sugar.
Recipe FAQ's
I recommend unsalted. This recipes contains no salt and salt would alter the taste of the cookie.
Dried cranberries should be used in this cookie since they won't add liquid to the dough. Dried cranberries come sweetened, unsweetened, and freeze dried which are a completely different product. Use either the sweetened or unsweetened. I used sweetened in this recipe.
Certainly and in a couple of different ways. Mini chocolate chips can be added to the dough when the cranberries and pistachios are added. In that case I would use 1/3 cup of each. The second way would be to dip the tops in either dark or white chocolate,
Yes, toasted chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds can be used.
Storing and Freezing
Unbaked cookie dough: The dough can be rolled into logs, wrapped in film and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days before baking. The rolls of unbaked cookies can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and then over wrapped in foil and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and then for about 30 minutes at room temperature for the best slices.
Baked cookies: They can also be baked and held in an airtight container with parchment or waxed paper between the layers before dipping in chocolate.
Chocolate dipped cookies: After they have been dipped and allowed to set up, store them in a container with parchment or waxed paper between them.
Expert tips
- Toast the nuts first to bring out the flavor. Cool them completely before processing them.
- Use pulses when processing the flour, cranberries and pistachios, and be careful not to cut them in too small. You want there to be identifiable pieces of nuts and cranberries.
- Adjust the size: These cookies are on the smaller, more tea cookie size. If you want larger cookies, simply make the cookie rolls 7" or 8" instead of 10". The cookies don't expand much so they are pretty much the same size as when you slice them.
- Don't overbake: Bake only until the cookies are lightly browned.
- All vanilla can be used if preferred.
- Substitute the nuts: Toasted pecans, walnuts, or almonds can be used in place of the pistachios.
MOre Cookies For the Holidays
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Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
Ingredients
Cranberry Pistachio Cookie Dough
- 1/2 cup + extra for decor pistachios (60 grams)
- 1/2 cup + extra for decor sweetened dried cranberries (85 grams)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (179 grams or 1 1/2 sticks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (210 grams)
Quick Tempering Chocolate - Finishing all with Semisweet Chocolate or White chocolate only
- 4 ounces semisweet or white chocolate 114 grams)
- 1 scant tablespoon shortening (like Crisco)
- Sanding sugar as needed
- Pistacho halves for decoration
- Sweetened Cranberries for decoration
Quick Tempering Chocolate - Finishing half with Semisweet and half with White Chocolate
- 2 ounces each of semisweet and white chocoalte (58 grams each))
- 1 1/2 teaspoons shortening for each chocolate
- all the rest the same as above
Instructions
Cranberry Pistachio Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Toast the nuts for about 7 minutes or until fragrant and slightly colored. Cool completely before using. Turn the oven off,
- Place the flour, pistachios and cranberries in the bowl of a processor. Process with pulses, to coarsely break up the nuts and cranberries. Set aside.
- Place the softened butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on medium until light in color and fluffy.
- Add the egg yolk and beat to incorporate.
- Last, add the flour mixture and beat on low to mix in the flour, raise to medium to bring the dough together.
- Remove the dough from the mixer and divide into two (about 265 grams each). Roll each piece into a 10" log. If you want larger cookies, make the rolls about 8" inches. Wrap in film and refrigerate for about 4 hours or up to 3 days. For longer storage, wrap in film, then in foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
- When ready to bake them preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the rolls from the fridge and let them sit at room temperature about 30 minutes so they will slice cleanly without crumbling as they will if they are too cold. Slice the rolls into cookies about 1/4" to 1/3" thick. Place them an inch apart on the prepared sheets.
- Bake for 8 minutes, turn the tray and bake another 5 or 6 until lightly browned. At this point they can be cooled and stored in an airtight container for several days before dipping them in chocolate.
Dipping in Chocolate
- Combine the chocolate and shortening in a small bowl which is wide enough to fit the cookie in but not so wide the chocolate is too spread out to be deep enough.Melt one or each of the chocolates along with the shortening in the microwave at half power just until some of the chocolate is shiny and the shorteing is melted. Stir, or whisk gently. If not melted, repeat but for less time each time.Be particularly watchful with the white chocolate as it can burn easily. The chocolate can also be melted in a double boiler over simmering water where it can be controlled more easily,
- Dip the top of 5 or 6 cookies at a time in the chocolate. Hold it over the container for a few seconds to let the excess run off. Place it, chocolate side up, on a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle it immediately with sanding sugar or leave it plain and top it with a pistachio half or a cranberry. Let set up,
- To store them: After the cookies have set up and the chocolate is firm, store them in an air tight container with parchment or waxed paper between the. Keep in a cool place.
Notes
Nutrition
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