• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

BAKED logo

  • Recipe Index
  • About Us
  • Work With Us
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

Home » Cookies & Bars » Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread With White Chocolate

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread With White Chocolate

Nov 14, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe

Cranberry pistachio shortbread are so easy to make! Chopped white chocolate completes the festive colour scheme of these holiday cookies.

Cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies on a wood and marble square board surrounded by Christmas decor.

This post first appeared February 7, 2018, and was last updated November 13, 2020.

Shortbread cookies – a mix of flour, sugar, butter, and salt – are one of the easiest cookie recipes ever! Think of them as a blank canvas for any add-ins or flavours you like. With the holiday season just around the corner we’ve taken a classic approach. You have to admit, red and green cranberry pistachio shortbread is pretty festive! The shortbread base is delicate, crumbly, and a touch salty. This creates a perfect backdrop for the chopped pistachios, tart dried cranberries, and caramelized white chocolate. A touch of orange blossom water is a light floral change from standard vanilla.

The shortbread is sliced while still hot, literally as soon as it’s out of the oven. We like the look of a finger-style cookie, but you can slice cranberry pistachio shortbread however you like. Small squares also work well. Keep in mind the cookies are quite crumbly while hot, and continue to be so until completely cooled.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • Tips & Notes
  • Substitutions
  • Recipe

A cranberry pistachio shortbread cookie on a pink plate with a pink glass filled with milk.

Use the JUMP TO RECIPE button at the top of the post, or scroll to the bottom of the post, to see the full recipe card with ingredient measurements and instructions.

Ingredients

Ingredients to make cranberry pistachio shortbread.t

Method

Preheat the oven and have a standard half-sheet baking sheet ready. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt.

A hand using a whisk to mix flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a large glass bowl.

Add the melted butter and orange blossom water to the flour mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are combined.

  • A hand mixing melted butter into flour in a glass bowl using a wooden spoon.
  • A glass bowl of crumbly cookie dough.

Fold in the chopped dried cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate. Stir until well combined.

A glass bowl of cookie dough with dried cranberries, chopped white chocolate, and chopped pistachios on top about to be mixed in.

Place the sheet of parchment paper on a work surface and dump the shortbread dough on top.

Crumbly cookie dough on a sheet of parchment paper on a work surface.

Gather the dough into a rough disc with your hands. Using your fingertips, gently press the dough together over the top and sides, working it into a smooth round disc.

  • Hands gathering dough into a ball on a sheet of parchment paper on a work surface.
  • Hands pressing cookie dough into a disc on parchment paper.

Still using your fingertips, continue to press the dough out gently, shaping it into a rectangle. A bench scraper or the edge of a long knife will help create straight edges as you go.

  • Hands shaping cookie dough into a perfect rectangle using a bench scraper.
  • A hand pressing a slab of cookie dough into place before baking.

Once the shortbread dough is pressed into shape, gently slide your hand under the parchment paper and transfer the shortbread dough to the baking sheet. Place the sheet in the pre-heated oven and bake the shortbread slab until the dough is lightly golden around the edges.

Remove the shortbread from the oven, and carefully transfer the hot cookie slab, still on the parchment paper, to a cutting board (we lifted our shortbread slab using two large spatulas under the parchment paper).

  • An unbaked rectangle cookie slab on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
  • A baked cookie slab on parchment paper.

Using a long, sharp knife, slice the cookie slab into individual squares or rectangles while still hot.

  • A hand slicing cookies from a baked cookie slab.
  • Baked cookies arranged in a square on a piece of parchment paper on a cutting board.

Transfer the sliced shortbread cookies to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before serving, or packaging as gifts.

A hand lifting a cranberry pistachio shortbread cookie from parchment paper using an offset spatula.
Cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies cooling on a wire rack.

Tips & Notes

Though the powdered sugar will be absorbed by the melted butter, we still prefer to sift it into the flour to remove any large lumps.

The base of the shortbread has a definite salty note to offset the sweetness of the cookie and the white chocolate. Feel free to reduce the salt amount by half if you prefer.

Packed gently into an airtight container, these cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to two months.

Cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies scattered on a stone surface.

Substitutions

Substitute the orange blossom water for vanilla, or any other essence you like or have on hand. You can also omit the orange blossom water, and swap in the zest of one small orange.

The dried cranberries can be changed for any other dried fruit you like.

Swap an equal amount of any other chopped nuts for the pistachios if you want.

Dark chocolate and milk chocolate are good substitutes for the white chocolate.

Cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies on pink and blush plates with a glass of milk.

More Holiday Cookie Recipes!

Vegan Gingerbread Cookie Ornaments

Double Chocolate Spelt Cookies With Coconut

Vegan Spice Sugar Cookies

Gluten-free Linzer Cookies (vegan)

Chocolate Shortbread Sandwich Cookies With Peppermint Cream

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.

Continue to Content

Recipe

Yield: 24 cookies

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread With White Chocolate

Cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies on a wood and marble square board surrounded by Christmas decor.

Cranberry pistachio shortbread are so easy to make! Chopped white chocolate completes the festive colour scheme of these holiday cookies.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 33 minutes
Total Time 48 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1-½ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp (4 g) salt
  • ½ cup plus 1 tbsp (128 g) melted butter
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water
  • ¼ cup (40 g) chopped dried cranberries
  • ¼ cup (40 g) chopped raw, unsalted, shelled pistachios
  • ¼ cup (40 g) chopped white chocolate

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC) and have a standard half-sheet 17-¼ x 12-14 inches (44 x 31-cm) baking sheet ready. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the baking sheet.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. 
  3. Add the melted butter and orange blossom water to the flour mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are combined.
  4. Fold in the chopped dried cranberries, pistachios, and white chocolate. Stir until well combined.
  5. Place the sheet of parchment paper on a work surface and dump the shortbread dough on top. Gather the dough into a rough disc with your hands. Using your fingertips, gently press the dough all over, working it into a smooth round disc. Still using your fingertips, continue to work the dough gently, shaping it into a rectangle shape, about 7 x 8-inches (18 x 20-cm) in size and ¼-inch (6-mm) thick. A bench scraper or the edge of a long knife can help create straight edges as you go.
  6. Once the shortbread dough is pressed into shape, gently slide your hand under the parchment paper and transfer the shortbread dough to the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the pre-heated oven and bake the shortbread slab for 33 to 35 minutes, or until the dough is lightly golden around the edges. 
  7. Remove the shortbread from the oven and carefully transfer the hot cookie slab, still on the parchment paper, to a cutting board (we used two large spatulas to do this). Using a long, sharp knife, slice the cookie slab into individual squares or rectangles while still hot. 
  8. Transfer the sliced shortbread cookies to a wire cooling rack and let them cool completely before serving or packaging as gifts.

Notes

Though the powdered sugar will be absorbed by the melted butter, we still prefer to sift it into the flour to remove any large lumps.

The base of the shortbread has a definite salty note which offsets the sweetness of the cookie base and white chocolate. Feel free to reduce the salt amount by half if you prefer.

Packed gently into an airtight container, these cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies can be stored in the freezer for up to two months.

SUBSTITUTIONS

Substitute the orange blossom water for vanilla, or any other essence you like or have on hand. You can also omit the orange blossom water, and swap in the zest of one small orange.

The dried cranberries can be changed for any other dried fruit you like.

Swap an equal amount of any other chopped nuts for the pistachios if you want.

Dark chocolate and milk chocolate are good substitutes for the white chocolate.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 84Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 81mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g

This is an approximation of the nutrition offered in this recipe, and is created using a nutrition calculator.

© BAKED
Cuisine: American, European / Category: Cookies & Bars

Previous Post: « Chewy Vegan Ginger Cookies
Next Post: Cranberry Marzipan Stollen »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

ABOUT US

BAKED is a collaborative, creative project by some of your favourite Canadian bloggers. Tune in each week as we bring accessible baking straight to your home kitchen. Through BAKED, there will be something for everyone.
Join Our Mailing List
Get our recipes & baking tips direct to your inbox each week!

Get Baking!

A close up of a seedy sourdough bread.

How To Stretch And Fold Sourdough

Shortcrust pastry after pre-baking.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (Pâte Sucrée)

Mincemeat in a deep bowl.

Homemade Mincemeat

A vanilla cupcake topped with buttercream and rosemary trees on a small platter.

The Best Vanilla Cupcakes

Footer

© 2020 Baked The Blog. This site uses affiliate links.

Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

Copyright© 2021