Cranberry pistachio cookies
These brown sugar butter cookies are dotted with the red of dried cranberries and the green of pistachios, looking as cheerful as the holiday season. They have crisp edges and chewy centers, with the gentle tartness of the fruit perfectly balanced by the rich, nutty pistachios.
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 11 min
- Rising or chilling
- 30 min
- Total time
- 1 hr 1 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1
Halve 90 g dried cranberries if they are large and coarsely chop 75 g shelled pistachios. Moderately small pieces spread evenly through the dough and keep the cookies from cracking around big chunks. The mix-ins are ready when the pieces are about the size of a mung bean.
Step 2
Beat 115 g softened unsalted butter with 100 g brown sugar and 50 g granulated sugar for about two minutes, then add 50 g eggs, 5 g vanilla extract and 3 g orange zest and keep beating. Brown sugar holds moisture, which makes the centers chewier. The mixture is ready when it is light and fluffy, a milky brown and the eggs are fully blended into the butter.
Step 3
Sift together 190 g all-purpose flour, 3 g baking soda and a pinch salt, add them to the butter mixture and mix on low speed. Sifting first spreads the baking soda evenly and prevents bitter spots in the cookies. The dough is ready when the streaks of dry flour have just disappeared and it is still soft and slightly sticky.
Step 4
Add the cranberries and pistachios to the dough and fold them in with a few turns of a spatula. Mixing by hand keeps the nuts from being crushed and preserves their bright green color. The dough is ready when every cut surface shows both red and green flecks.
Step 5
Cover the bowl of dough and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Cold dough spreads more slowly in the oven, giving thick cookies with chewy centers. The dough is ready when it feels firm and no longer sticks to the spoon when scooped.
Step 6
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a tray with parchment paper while the dough chills. A hot enough oven sets the edges quickly before the butter has a chance to melt. The oven is ready when the indicator light goes off and you can clearly feel the heat when you hold your hand near the door.
Step 7
Roll the dough into balls about the size of a small lime, place them 5 cm apart and press the tops lightly to flatten them a little, adding a few extra pieces of nuts on top if you like. Evenly sized balls let the whole batch bake at the same rate. The balls are ready when they are nicely round, slightly flat on top, with fruit peeking out.
Step 8
Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers are still slightly pale. The centers will keep cooking from the residual heat on the tray. The cookies are done when the edges are crisp and small natural cracks appear on top.
Step 9
Leave the cookies on the tray for about five minutes, then move them to a rack. This short wait lets the bottoms set so the cookies don't break when lifted. The cookies are fully cool when the bottoms are firm and the centers are chewy but no longer wet.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Hand mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Kitchen scale
Tips
- Use unsalted pistachios; if you only have salted roasted ones, cut back on the salt in the dough.
- Soaking the cranberries in warm water for five minutes and patting them dry keeps them soft so they don't draw moisture from the cookies.
- Adding a little chopped white chocolate makes the cookies sweeter and even prettier.
Storage
The cookies stay chewy in an airtight container for about a week at room temperature. You can also roll the dough into balls, freeze them and bake straight from the freezer, adding just two minutes to the baking time.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The cookies spread out thin and flat.
- The butter was too soft or the dough wasn't chilled. Use butter that is just soft enough to hold a fingerprint, and remember to chill the dough before baking.
- The pistachios turned brown.
- Too many nuts were exposed on top and the cookies baked a little too long. Press the nuts deeper into the dough and shorten the baking time by one minute.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
