These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are so delicious and festive. These soft and chewy cranberry cookies are studded with white chocolate chips, orange zest, and tangy cranberries.
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Helpful Reader Review
“These are by far the best cookies! I had to make a second batch because my family and friends loved them so much!” – Tracey ★★★★★
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
These soft-baked cookies will be a favorite on your Christmas cookie platter this year. Arrange them with your Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread Cookies, and your holiday treats will steal the spotlight at any cookie swap and make the perfect gift for neighbors, friends and teachers.
If you love easy cookies like Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, this recipe is for you. These easy-to-make cookies are delicious and effortlessly beautiful with bright red cranberries and snow-white chocolate chips poking through.
You can use fresh, frozen, or dried cranberries in this recipe, though fresh cranberries are preferred for a softer and brighter cookie (see the comparison below).
Cranberry Cookies Ingredients
These cookies call for pantry and refrigerator staples, especially during cranberry season, but you can use fresh or dried cranberries to enjoy them year-round.
- Butter – unsalted and softened, and at room temperature
- Sugars – brown sugar adds a chewy texture and golden color. Granulated sugar creates crisp edges.
- Dry Ingredients: Flour, baking powder, and salt. Use all-purpose (or substitute GF flour) and be sure to measure flour correctly.
- Orange Zest – adds a fresh citrus zing. It’s an easy to way to add great flavor.
- Vanilla – I use my homemade pure Vanilla Extract (These make great holiday gifts too!)
- Egg – should be large and room temperature
- White Chocolate Chips – add pockets of melted chocolate in every bite.
- Cranberries – fresh or frozen, coarsely chopped, or substitute with 1 cup dried cranberries if necessary. If you soak your dried cranberries in hot water for 15-20 minutes, you’ll get softer cookies.
Variations
You can get creative with the add-ins for these cranberry cookies. Try chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, lemon zest, or even a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg.
How to Make Cranberry Cookies
- Prepare – Preheat the oven to 350°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- Cream Butter and Sugars- Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well to incorporate. Beat in the zest and vanilla extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure everything is mixed in.
- Dry Ingredients – In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat just until combined and the cookie dough comes together.
- Fold in Cranberries and Chocoalte – Using a stiff spatula, just until incorporated. Don’t overmix, you don’t want to smoosh the cranberries.
- Shape and Bake – Shape into 1-inch balls (a small cookie scoop makes it easy), and place them 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden brown at the edges. Don’t overbake if you want soft cookies. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Pro Tip:
Cookies with dried cranberries will bake faster since they have less moisture, so be sure to watch your cookies in the oven to prevent them from overcooking. Watch for the edges to turn golden brown and you’ll know they’re done to perfection.
I hope you enjoy these Merry and Bright Cranberry Cookies. Sending you the merriest wishes on your Christmas baking journey. May your oven be precise, your ingredients be plenty, and each cookie be a sweet reflection of the joy and warmth of the season.
Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (12 Tbsp or 1.5 sticks)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 tsp grated orange zest
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, or use your favorite GF flour, measured correctly
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 cups white chocolate chips
- 2 cups fresh cranberries (8 oz. bag), coarsely chopped, or frozen cranberries, or substitute 1 cup dried cranberries*
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream together the butter and both sugars for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well to incorporate. Beat in the zest and vanilla extract.
- Add Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat just until combined and dough comes together.
- Add Cranberries and Chocolate: Using a stiff spatula, stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips just until incorporated. Shape into 1-inch balls (a small cookie scoop makes it easy) and place 2 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet.
- Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown at the edges (Cookies with dried cranberries will bake faster, about 11-13 minutes). Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To store baked cookies: store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
- Make-ahead: Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 72 hours. To bake, bring to room temperature until it softens enough to scoop then bake as directed.
- To freeze cookie dough: Place cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet, cover, and freeze for an hour or until solid, then transfer to a large freezer-safe bag and freeze up to 3 months.
- To bake frozen cookie dough: Place the frozen cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake from frozen, adding an extra 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Christmas Cookie Recipes
If you love these Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies, then you’ll want to try these other tried-and-true Christmas cookies. Try one, or try them all, and have the most beautiful holiday spread.
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Chocolate Truffles
- Russian Tea Cakes
- Almond Snowball Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Angel Wing Cookies
- Toffee Recipe
- Baklava
- Homemade Biscotti
Can I add sliced almonds? If so, do I need to adjust any of the other ingredients? What should the nut portion be?
I bet you can, Rick! I haven’t tried it myself to give specifics.
Could I use salted butter and what if I don’t have fine sea salt, options?
Hi Lori, it works best with unsalted butter, but if you use salted you will need to adjust the fine sea salt that goes in the recipe.
Hi Natasha!
Thank you for your wonderful recipe! I always tell my friends and family that this cookie is only available when the fresh cranberry is season. I used both dried and frozen but nothing could beat the fresh one.
Btw, just a quick question- do you normally use regular or convection oven? I usually use regular but tried convection oven setting the other day and the texture of your chocolate chip came out differently. I guess because of the hot air circulation, they were baked faster at the lower temp as expected but the outside texture got crispier than usual (inside was still soft, though). People liked both texture but I wanted to ask if you were using regular or convection oven setting for your baking.
Hi Risa, I use regular bake mode. If you use convection, you will need to adjust the temperature and the time otherwise, like you said they will burn quicker and become more crunchy/crispy.
I am in Love with this recipe. I feel so blessed and thankful to be able to make these this Christmas cookies for our local retired veterans. God sent me to find your post. Church DropOff 12/13/25 💜🪽☦️
Couldn’t find white chips. These were phenomenal with milk chocolate chips though, like a chocolate covered cranberry!
These cookies turned out very well, (Tasty) after I had to wrestle with adding the frozen cranberries. It made the batter harder to work with. Next time I will use fresh out of the bag, not frozen ones, or completely thawed room temperature ones. There are no directions when using frozen cranberries. Maybe there should be a mention.
Hi Ava, this recipe is intended to be made with 2 cups fresh cranberries. Frozen will work as a substiute but may take some adjustments.
Wonderful! Very buttery and delicious. With my 1T scoop, the recipe made 65 cookies!
I followed the recipe exactly, it did make 36 wonderful cookies! They are beautiful and a great addition to your Christmas cookie collection!
Is there any way you can use cranberry jelly for this recipe? I always have a lot of that one left over.
Hi Linda, I honestly have not tested that to advise. If you an experiment, we’d love to know how it goes!
Used fresh cranberries. My cookies were very flat and skinny. They ripped when I tried to move them to the cooling rack. Disaster. On the positive side, they tasted really good. Will be repurposed as as a topping for ice cream.
Hi Sudan! Cookies can spread if the batter is too warm, often times from working with overly soft/warm butter or if your climate is too warm. If you measured everything correctly, then I would try chilling the dough prior to baking, it helps the cookies keep their shape better. Make sure to fully preheat your oven. If it’s not fully preheated, the butter starts to melt and the cookies go too flat before setting.
Can these cranberry cookies be frozen after baking?
Yes! To store baked cookies: store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months.
Natasha
My name is Audrey and I have a friend who is diabetic and loves her sweets. I’ve been using an artificial sweetener which works well in some recipes
I was wondering if you think it would work well in cookies and breads. using dried fruits such as cranberries and cherries
Hi Audrey! I have not tried using artificial sweetener to advise. If you do an experiment, we’d love to know how it goes!
I use allulose in a lot of recipes, it’s not as sweet as sugar so you use a little more but really diabetics should also avoid flour since it raises glucose as much as sugar does.
Cookies are delicious but they do not make 36 cookies. I doubled the recipe for an event and I barely got 36 out of it- not 72! I was not making huge cookies, and we used a small scoop to portion out the dough. I suppose it is possible to make 36 out of one batch of this recipe but they will be small bite sized cookies! Just an FYI for those who are trying to cook for a crowd!!!!
Thank you for this recipe! These cookies are beautiful and DELICIOUS!! I used fresh cranberries and followed the directions exactly.
I’m happy to hea that you loved the Cranberry Cookies!
They were delicious ~I can’t wait to make another batch ! Thank you Ms. Natasha for making the directions so simple to follow with your added tips ~I am a beginner and you make baking so enjoyable. Thank you !
Great job! I’m so glad you loved the cranbarry cookies!
Just made those cookies!!! So delicious, I am definitely going to make them again and again!!😘❤️
Hi Elena! Thank you for sharing your feedback, I’m glad you loved the cookies.
Made these today. Delicious. I will be making more for the holidays.
These really are the best for the holidays.
I made these today. They are delicious. Will be making more for the holidays.
Hi Susan! That’s so great, I’m happy you enjoyed these cookies.
Hi! I made these last Christmas season with the best results!! So good! I am planning to make them again, but do you think frozen cranberries will work? Do I need to thaw them first? Thank you in advance!😊❤
Hi Jacinta! I’m so glad you loved them last year. I haven’t tested this with frozen cranberries, but here is what one of my viewers said: “I used frozen cranberries just fine! Just quickly chopped them in a food processor and folded them into the dough while they were still frozen so they didn’t get mushy.”
Could you shape dough into a roll and slice to bake instead of using a scoop?
Hi Joyce, I think that can work. You may need to refrigerate the dough log for it to get cold to be able to slice it evenly. Make sure to use a sharp knife.