These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies have crisp edges, soft centers, and a secret ingredient that makes them taste like they came from a bakery.
Get ready to sink your teeth into the best White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies! This flavor combo is incredible and this easy recipe is sure to become a new favorite.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
Ease – The dough comes together in minutes with a basic list of ingredients. Simply scoop and drop the dough onto baking sheets.
No chill time – These cookies can be baked immediately, no need to chill the dough.
Texture – Crisp edges, soft centers, creamy white chocolate, and chewy dried cranberries.
Flavor – An incredible flavor combo: dried cranberries, white chocolate, vanilla extract, and a touch of almond extract.
Recipe overview
*Full recipe below in recipe card*
- Beat butter and sugars
- Add egg and extracts
- Add dry ingredients
- Stir in white chocolate and dried cranberries
- Scoop and bake
Secret ingredient
The ingredient that sets this recipe apart from others is almond extract. This is one of my favorite ingredients for making homemade baked goods taste like they came from a bakery. Just a touch of almond extract complements the flavor of vanilla, white chocolate, and dried cranberries perfectly.
Recipe tips
- Use good quality white chocolate chips. Ghirardelli and Guittard are my favorites. If you’d prefer to use a chopped white chocolate bar you can, the cookies will spread a bit more since there are no stabilizers in the chocolate bar.
- Don’t over soften your butter. It should be softened, but still cool to the touch. If you accidentally over-soften the butter chill the dough for 1 hour before baking.
- Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies. A 2-tablespoon scoop is my favorite.
- For prettier cookies, add a few white chocolate chips and dried cranberries to the top of the cookies immediately after baking.
- Do not overbake. These cookies should be removed from the oven when the edges are set but the center is still slightly under baked. They should be so delicate that you cannot pick them up off the baking sheet. They will firm up as they cool.
- Leftover white chocolate chips? Make this two ingredient White Chocolate Mousse.
Can you freeze these cookies?
Yes! You can freeze the cookie dough balls (unbaked) or you can freeze baked cookies.
Freezing cookie dough: Place the portioned cookie dough balls in a single layer on a baking sheet or platter. Freeze until they are firm, then transfer the dough balls into zip top freezer storage bags (I often double bag them). Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Flatten the dough balls slightly before baking and add a minute or two to bake time if they’re coming straight from the fridge.
Freezing baked cookies: Place the baked and cooled cookies in zip top freezer storage bag (I often double bag them). Freeze for up to 3 months. Serve at room temperature, or warm slightly in the microwave to get the white chocolate a little melty.
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Recipe
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups all purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to cool room temp
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar, make sure it is fresh and soft
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate bar, plus more for topping, if desired
- ⅔ cup dried sweetened cranberries, plus more for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, combine flour (see note), baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add egg and extracts and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just combined. Add ¾ cup each white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and stir until well combined.
- Scoop 2-tablespoon portions of dough and place the dough balls a couple inches apart on the cookie sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes, until the edges are beginning to turn golden brown and the center is still slightly underdone. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through cooking time, if necessary. If your dough balls are smaller or larger than 2 tablespoons, adjust bake time accordingly. Make sure not to overbake. The cookies should still be soft in the center when you remove them from the oven.
- Immediately after removing the cookies from the oven you can shape them using the technique mentioned below**. If desired, press a few additional white chocolate chips or dried cranberries into the top of each cookie. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and allow the cookies to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.
White chocolate: Use good quality white chocolate chips. Ghirardelli and Guittard are my favorites. If you’d prefer to use a chopped white chocolate bar you can, the cookies will spread a bit more since there are no stabilizers in the chocolate bar.
Freezing cookie dough: Place the portioned cookie dough balls in a single layer on a baking sheet or platter. Freeze until they are firm, then transfer the dough balls into ziptop freezer storage bags (I often double bag them). Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before baking. Flatten the dough balls slightly before baking and add a minute or two to bake time if they’re coming straight from the fridge.
Freezing baked cookies: Place the baked and cooled cookies in ziptop freezer storage bag (I often double bag them). Freeze for up to 3 months. Serve at room temperature, or even warm slightly in the microwave to get the white chocolate a little melty.Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!Recipe updated November 2023; flour increased slightly.
Paige says
Delish. No macadamia nuts and no brandy. Double it. These were a big hit but I knew going in that it would not make too many with that flour. It made 18. I also goofed because I was not expecting two extracts and so I added the 3/4 of almond on accident and they turned out fine. I am not sure two extracts are needed and if you just have one it will be okay; I recommend the almond.
Allison says
Thanks for sharing your experience. Happy holidays!
Camellia says
Had to search for this recipe again! I have had so many requests from the batch I made and I didn’t want to use any other recipe. They turned out perfect and I always like to use almond extract so that was a nice touch! Thanks for recipe! Will book mark now!
Allison says
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Brenda says
Too dry
Angel says
Tasty and easy recipe to follow! My husband loves them!
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Laura Roberts says
I made this using the King Arthur GF flour and White Chocolate coffee syrup…I didn’t have almond on hand. I chilled them for 2 minutes to stop them from spreading. They are a huge hit!
Allison says
That’s great to hear! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
W. Obrien says
My family and I absolutely love these cookies, I have made them several times and each time they are all gone in no time.
Thanks
Allison says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Molly says
I’m so glad I decided to double the recipe from the get go! These were delicious little morsels and have been ate up quickly!
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Sonji says
Allison. I’m so happy I found you page. There are so many recipes I’m gonna try. I notice a lot of people use almond extract or flavoring in their pound cakes. But the cherry taste kind of throws me off.
Allison says
Hi! Happy to have you here! You can leave the almond extract out if you’d prefer. Enjoy!
Ellie says
Loved this cookie. Such a nice texture and wonderful flavors all together in one cookie. 👍
Allison says
Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Carol says
I’m glad I doubled this recipe! These are such good cookies. I soaked the dried cranberries for 15 minutes in water before adding (just like I do when making raisin cookies). Definitely going to be a go to recipe.
Allison says
I’m so glad! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Nancy says
I just used 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I hate almond flavoring