White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Posted Nov 26, 2021, Updated Feb 12, 2023
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These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, buttery and sweet. They’re an easy to make (no chilling), festive cookie perfect for the holidays.
There’s something about the combination of white chocolate and cranberry that is perfect for the holiday season. Whether it’s the colors or the flavors or both, these white chocolate cranberry cookies are a delicious treat to make during the most wonderful time of the year!
These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, buttery and sweet.
They’re an easy to make (no chilling), festive cookie that would make a great addition to any holiday cookie tray.
Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies: Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-purpose flour. For a gluten-free version substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour.
- Fine sea salt. Use fine (not coarse) sea salt. If using iodized table salt, decrease the amount by half.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter.
- Granulated sugar. I recommend using organic cane sugar or regular white sugar – I don’t use sugar substitutes so I can’t recommend them, but if you try it let me know in the comments.
- Light brown sugar. I don’t recommend making substitutions for the light brown sugar in this recipe.
- White chocolate chips. Use a high-quality, white chocolate chip made with real cocoa butter (read the ingredients)!! Some brands I recommend: Whole Foods 365 White Chocolate Baking Chips, Cacaoholic, and Callebaut. I used Toll House in this post but they’re not made with real cocoa butter!
- Dried Cranberries. You technically can substitute any dried fruit you’d like (dried cherries are delicious), but the cranberries are a namesake ingredient and as such, I don’t recommend leaving them out.
How to make white chocolate cookies with cranberries
This recipe is very simple and straightforward. We’ll walk through the steps together and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by combining the dry ingredients, then set them aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 1 minute.
Next, add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Then, add the dry ingredients, half at a time, beating on low speed after each addition.
Next, add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and stir until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
The dough should be firm but not dry (as pictured below).
Use a 1.5 to 2 TBS cookie scoop to measure out portions of dough, roll them into balls and place them evenly spaced on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used.
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the top is just set and just barely beginning to turn light golden brown.
Do not overbake. The cookies won’t look fully done and that is exactly how they should look (just like this chocolate chip cookie recipe).
Remove from the oven and let the white chocolate chip cranberry cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store
Once cooled, store these white chocolate chip cranberry cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.
How to freeze
You can freeze these cranberry white chocolate cookies two ways:
- Freeze the dough before baking. Simply portion out the dough and roll it into balls. Then place it on a baking sheet and flash-freeze the balls until hardened. Once hardened, transfer the dough balls to an airtight container until you’re ready to bake.
- To bake: remove the dough from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 hours before baking according to the recipe instructions. This is my preferred method, because you can bake them fresh when you’re ready to enjoy them.
- Freeze baked cookies. To freeze baked cookies, let them cool to room temperature. Then store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- To thaw: let the white chocolate and cranberry cookies sit out at room temperature until thawed. You can also warm them in the oven set to 250 degrees F, in a baking dish covered with foil (or a lid) until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, this recipe doubles very well. You can click on the “2X” button in the recipe card for ingredient measurements of a double recipe.
Use a high-quality, white chocolate chip made with real cocoa butter (read the ingredients)! Some brands I recommend: Whole Foods 365 White Chocolate Baking Chips, Cacaoholic, and Callebaut.
Yes, you can. You just need to coarsely chop them into small pieces so they bake evenly in the cookies.
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White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, beat together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – about 1 minute.
- Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients, beat on low speed until combined.
- Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat until combined.
- Add white chocolate chips and cranberries and stir until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Use a 2 TBS cookie scoop to measure out portions of dough, roll them into balls and place them evenly spaced on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the top is just set and just barely beginning to turn light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
- All-purpose flour. For a gluten-free version substitute a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour.
- Fine sea salt. Use fine (not coarse) sea salt. If using iodized table salt, decrease the amount by half.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter can be used in place of salted butter.
- Granulated sugar. I recommend using organic cane sugar or regular white sugar – I don’t use sugar substitutes so I can’t recommend them, but if you try it let me know in the comments.
- Light brown sugar. I don’t recommend making substitutions for the light brown sugar in this recipe.
- White chocolate chips. Use a high-quality, white chocolate chip made with real cocoa butter (read the ingredients)!! Some brands I recommend: Whole Foods 365 White Chocolate Baking Chips, Cacaoholic, and Callebaut. I used Toll House in this post but they’re not made with real cocoa butter!
- Dried Cranberries. You technically can substitute any dried fruit you’d like (dried cherries are delicious), but the cranberries are a namesake ingredient and as such, I don’t recommend leaving them out.
Store
Once cooled, store these white chocolate chip cranberry cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days.How to freeze
You can freeze these cranberry white chocolate cookies two ways:- Freeze the dough before baking. portion out the dough and roll it into balls. Then place it on a baking sheet and flash-freeze the balls until hardened. Once hardened, transfer the dough balls to an airtight container until you’re ready to bake. 1. To bake: remove the dough from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 hours before baking according to the recipe instructions.
- Freeze baked cookies. To freeze baked cookies, let them cool to room temperature. Then store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. 1. To thaw: let the white chocolate and cranberry cookies sit out at room temperature until thawed. You can also warm them in the oven set to 250 degrees F, in a baking dish covered with foil (or a lid) until warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Wow – just made these cookies and they are delicious! 8min was perfect for my convection oven. Hopefully I’ll have enough left to take to a friend in an hour…..Thanks for a wonderful recipe.
I had so many small bags of dried cranberries, so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it out, and I’m so glad I did! I made these cookies for our Christmas dinner, and they were a hit! Perfectly chewy and the flavor was great. The day after, my brother texted me and he wanted to place an order for these cookies haha! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thank you so much Silvia! I’m so glad they made your holiday special and delicious! Merry Christmas!