Tomorrow is the big day and I hope you are done with all your chores. I'm assuming that the list of Christmas baking recipes I posted last week should have been of some help for all the beginners and bakers on a time crunch. I couldn't resist from trying another eggless pistachio cranberry shortbread cookie recipe over the weekend that I had bookmarked from here. Even though I have tried cranberry shortbread cookies and chocolate shortbread cookies before, I couldn't ignore this one.
Pistachio and cranberries is quite a combo, not only look wise but also taste-wise. The chewiness of the dried cranberries goes well with the crunchiness of the pistachios. The vegan cranberry pistachio biscotti recipe is yet another proof. That's why I chose to use pistachios instead of pecans that was mentioned in the original recipe and baked these pistachio and cranberry shortbread cookies.
I'm so glad that I tried it because these pistachio cranberry shortbread cookies turned out awesome. They were light, tender and crispy. We couldn't taste the whole wheat flour at all. Even though whole wheat pastry flour is not as robust as regular whole wheat flour, you would still feel a mild nutty flavor when used in muffins, cakes and sometimes in cookies too. But this recipe is an exception I guess, because we didn't feel it even a bit.
You may add some white chocolate chips too to the dough and make it as white chocolate and cranberry shortbread cookies. With the pistachios, the red, white and green color will make it a perfect Christmas treat. Pistachios are quite expensive than the other nuts but the season is definitely worth the extra splurge because these cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies are to die for! The taste and texture is unbeatable!
Recipe
Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups butter, softened
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup pistachios, toasted
Substitutes:
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract using an electric beater.
- Add flour one cup at a time and the salt, mixing well after each cup is added. Do not use the beater for this, just mix it with a wooden spoon or spatula. Beating it with a hand held mixer might result it tough cookies.
- Stir in the cranberries and pistachios.
- Shape dough into two logs, each log about 10 inches long. Wrap it tightly with parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. I chilled mine overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Cut each log into ¼-1/2 inch slices and arrange on the baking sheet(s).
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. I took out mine just after 18 minutes.
- Cool the sheets on a wire rack and let it be for 5 minutes. After that remove the cookies off the pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack before storing it in an air-tight container.
My Notes
- Toast the pistachios on stove top in a pan for about 5-7 minutes or in the oven, stirring once or twice in the middle so that it doesn't burn.
- You need to use either whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe to get tender and crispy cookies. I'm pretty sure that the regular(hard) whole wheat flour will not be suitable for these cookies.
- Proceed with caution while slicing the dough. Do not use a "see-saw" motion while cutting it because the dough would start crumbling. Instead just run through the dough once with a serrated knife. Even if the dough cracks, you can still patch it up together.
- These shortbread cookies does not have the maple flavor. If you don't like maple flavor then don't worry about using maple syrup in the cookies. But if you are a fan you might want to use maple extract instead of vanilla extract.
- The number of cookies you will get depends upon how thin or thick you slice the dough. I was able to get 60 cookies when the original recipe states the yield is 30-40 cookies. So if you cut the dough as thin as mine you would have to bake it for a minute or two less than the original time 18 minutes, otherwise the bottoms might get too brown. I baked the first batch for 18 minutes but removed the second from the oven after 16 minutes itself.
Ganga says
Hi,
I made this today. Substituted maida, almond nibs and honey. Crispy and light. The thing is I only baked for 8 minutes at 180°C and it's done. May I bake at 160°C for 10 minutes?
Madhuram says
Thanks for trying the recipe, Ganga. Yes, it should be fine.
Mina says
Hi MadhuramJul,
Does this recipe require any baking powder or levening agent? I am worried these cookies wii be too hard if I use all purpose four.
Thank you for your response.
Sincerely,
Mina
Madhuram says
Usually, shortbread cookies don't need any leavening agent, Mona. It will work out good with all-purpose flour too.
Connie says
Pls let me know how long to keep dough log on the counter, before I can cut it for baking. I hv refrigerated it overnight. Thanks
Madhuram says
Depending on how hard it becomes the time will vary Connie. I'm thinking about 20-30 minutes should be fine.
Elízabeth Watson says
These were a complete disaster. They completely fell apart when I sliced them and I could t put them back together. Don't know what I did wrong.
Madhuram says
Sorry about your experience, Elizabeth. I see that I have written in the Notes that if you use a see-saw motion to cut the cookies it will crumble, so instead you should just do one single cut. Not sure if you followed this. Sometimes if you cut it too thin the cookie will crumble.
Lena says
I love it! Prepared it yesterday with my boyfriend and they tasted delicious! Instead of butter I used coconut oil, as you adviced 🙂
I'm unspeakably happy that I've come across your website, definitely gonna use it from now on! So many great ideas! <3
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Lena. Thank you very much for the feedback. I'm unspeakably happy too! 😀
Nadia says
Hello,
You say, "Cut each log into 1/4-1/2 inch slices" - firstly what does that mean 1/4-1/2 and the picture has rounded cookies, is the picture not for this recipe? I'd like to bake rounded cookies.
Thank you!
Nadia
Madhuram says
Hi Nadia, it means that the cookie slices should be around 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thickness depending upon how thick you want your cookies to be. Yes you will get round slices when you roll the dough into a log and then slice it. When you bake these dough slices you will get round cookies.
Paayel says
Hi
Is your cup measurement Indian or American? Also in your measurements guide 1 stick of butter equals 112 gms whereas the Indian Amul butter is 100 gms.
Thanks
Madhuram says
It's standard US cup measurement. The charts I got from the web. So really don't know how it works because I don't use grams/weight while baking.
anju says
hi
can we use golden syrup instead of maple or honey
Madhuram says
Hmm..probably
Madeleine Rex says
Hey there! I wanna check that all-purpose flour would be alright. It says so in the substitutes, but when you discuss which flour is best later in the article, you won't mention it.
Madhuram says
Yes you may use Madeleine.
Marci says
Did Sophie above substitute oat flour in the same amt as you used whole wheat flour?