Lemon Cranberry Cookies

These mini, bite-sized Lemon Cranberry Cookies are prepared with lightly sweetened vanilla cookie dough and topped with a sugary, sweet glaze. Don’t worry – the tartness of both the lemon and the cranberry can easily stand up to the sweetness!

Last Christmas, I shared my Orange Cranberry Cookies recipe with you. And even though the title of that recipe might look very similar to this one – Lemon Cranberry Cookies – rest assured that I did not just switch out the orange for lemon. They are two very different cookies. Ha!

That cookie is one of those chilled, slice-and-bake cookies and it was such a hit last year. There is just something about cranberries and Christmas baking that everyone seems to love. This new recipe uses fresh cranberries just like last year’s cranberry cookie. I have not tried using dried cranberries instead, and to be quite honest, I don’t think they would work. Dried cranberries are sweet and you need the tartness of fresh cranberries for this cookie.

There’s that, and there’s also the fact that a fresh cranberry will blister and pop in the oven, which means the juice in the cranberry will seep into and onto the cookie. This not only creates a beautiful maroon hue, it also makes the cookie moist and delicious! So, please use fresh cranberries to get the full flavour, texture, and look.

LORD BYRON’S 24 COOKIES OF CHRISTMAS – VOLUME 5

I’m so excited about this year’s cookie countdown! This is the fifth consecutive year; can you believe that? Each of the previous years has included 24 cookies and this year will not be any different. I’ll share a new Christmas cookie recipe each and every single day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday!

You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas cookie recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to bake the same holiday cookies year after year?

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Volume 5 of Lord Byron’s 24 Cookies of Christmas! Fresh off of my 12 Edible Wreaths of Christmas and my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series, I’m ready to plow through the next 24 days with you!

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday baking countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Butter – Make sure your butter is at room temperature! To be perfectly honest, I have made these with both salted and unsalted butter and there’s no difference in taste or appearance once all is said and done. Use what you have on hand.
• Sugar – Sugar will caramelize when baked, which will help to brown cookies and cakes.  In cookies, the sugar will help the dough to spread and will create a crispness at the bottom of the cookie.
• Eggs – Actually, you’ll only need the yolks. Whenever you set out to bake, make sure your eggs are at room temperature too – just like your butter!
• Vanilla Extract – Probably the most common extract and the most common flavouring used in cakes and cookies.  
• Flour – No need for anything special. Just use regular all-purpose flour. I have not tried this recipe with any other type of flour.
• Lemon Zest
• Fresh Cranberries – Pick through the cranberries and select the best-looking ones – they should be firm and deep red in colour. Wash them in a strainer under cold running water and transfer them to a clean kitchen towel. Fold the towel over the cranberries and pat them dry.
• Sanding Sugar – Coarse sugar, sometimes referred to as sanding sugar, is used sometimes for decorative purposes.  It is sometimes called pearl sugar or coarse baking sugar.
• Confectioner’s Sugar
• Lemon Juice

O CRANBERRY, CRANBERRY, WHEREFORE ART THOU CRANBERRY?

Have you been reading my blog for any length of time? If you have, you will already be aware of what I’m about to discuss. If you haven’t, it’s important that you understand how frustrating it can be to be a food blogger at times. Food bloggers are always working ahead of schedule. When it comes to Christmas recipes, for example, we are baking cakes and cookies as early as September!

We do this so that we can test the recipes to make sure that they will work for you at home. The recipes need to be plated and styled. Photographs need to be taken. We have to write up the post and make sure we please the folks at Google, otherwise, our recipes run the risk of being buried in cyberspace somewhere. There are many other steps that I’m skipping here, but all of it is to say that we need the time to get the recipes out to you a few weeks before you need them.

Now, as a huge fan of Christmas baking – the 200+ Christmas recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen are proof of that – there’s one thing that frustrates me every single year. There’s a tremendous lack of things like fresh cranberries for many months of the year. Don’t even get me started on holiday confections like Hershey’s chocolate or candy canes! Luckily, here in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, so I was able to get my hands on the cranberries used in these Lemon Cranberry Cookies!

LEMON SUGAR

One of the steps in this recipe is one that requires you to make lemon sugar. This is one of those things that makes very little sense but is very important. Infusing the sugar with the lemon is key to making Lemon Cranberry Cookies even more lemony.

To the best of my knowledge, I believe that the aggressive beating of the sugar and the lemon zest together releases the natural lemon oil from the zest and infuses the sugar profusely. Don’t skip this step. Will your cookies still taste great? Yes. But this one step adds even more lemon essence. Trust me!

That’s just what lemon sugar is – lemon zest and white, granulated sugar. Most recipes will ask you to rub the zest into the sugar with your hands. You can do it this way, but I prefer to use my hand-held mixer. Use a deep bowl, so that the sugar doesn’t flick out. On high speed, beat and pulverize the lemon zest into the sugar. You’ll see how the sugar slowly turns a pale yellow.

HOW TO MAKE LEMON CRANBERRY COOKIES

So, let’s get started! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set it aside. Next, in a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and lemon zest to create lemon sugar. The sugar will turn a pale yellow when done. Add the butter and beat to combine until light and fluffy.

Next, add the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Beat to combine. Now, add the flour and mix into the butter mixture until just combined. Don’t over-mix! Portion into two-teaspoon amounts and roll into balls. Roll each ball into the sanding sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Place a single fresh cranberry onto each cookie and gently, but firmly, push it into the rolled cookie dough so that it sticks.

Bake the Lemon Cranberry Cookies for 11 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Once cooled, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice to form a glaze. Transfer the mixture to a sealable sandwich bag and cut a small tip from one of the lower corners. Use the bag to drizzle the glaze over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. Once done, top with a sprinkling of sanding sugar. Allow the glaze to firm up and harden before packaging cookies for storage.

SANDING VS GRANULATED SUGAR

I use coarse sanding sugar quite a bit, so I hope it hasn’t been too difficult for you to find. Sanding sugar is sometimes referred to as baking sugar, and there are some substitutes.

You can use other sugars – which are basically the same, but named something differently – there’s pearl sugar and coarse sugar. You cannot, however, use granulated sugar. Let me explain why. Whereas an individual granule of sanding sugar is large and hard, a single granule of granulated sugar is quite small. Sanding sugar will hold up to the heat in your oven without melting; granulated sugar will not.

If you can only find granulated sugar, you should skip the coating in the sugar step, or you can use turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is a golden brown though, so it will throw off the colour of your finished cookie.

You can find sanding sugars online, but they tend to be more expensive online. If you’re in Canada, go to your local Bulk Barn or your local baking supply store. They have lots of different colours and the price is much, much lower.

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

When it comes to most cookies, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop for long periods of time. Cookies will stay fresh in a cookie jar or food-safe container with a lid for 3-5 days if left to sit on your kitchen countertop. You can store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze your Lemon Cranberry Cookies, you certainly can! Once completely cooled, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  

You can freeze these cookies for up to three months. If you plan to give previously frozen cookies as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. If packaging, wait until the condensation has evaporated. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down to follow me and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!