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.
Nutrition
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Martha Grace Ambrosio says
I made these in there absolutely delicious. An excellent recipe. My only complaint was that my cookies are a little hard so not sure whether I should have covered them when they were a little warm? I let them cool completely before storing them, maybe I shouldn't have.
Madhuram says
Thank you very much for trying the recipe and for the feedback, Martha. Maybe reducing the baking time by about 2 minutes would have helped. I always test bake 3-4 cookies. See how it turns out and after about 10-15 minutes bake the rest of the cookies depending on how the test cookies taste/feel. Each oven is different so some tweaking might be necessary at times.
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?
Rinika Jain says
White sugar is granulated sugar or powdered sugar?
Madhuram says
Granulated.
Honey says
i made these right now. they taste so incredible. i love how simple the instruction and how very few the ingredients are.
its my favourite cookie recipe now.
thanks so much for sharing 🙂
xx Honey from http://www.honeyuncharted.com
Madhuram says
Thanks dear 🙂
Sophie says
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe! Will definitely make again.
I did change some things as I am vegan i used margarine. instead of white sugar i used brown sugar. added some ground cloves, lemon peel, ground pistachio instead of whole ones and used oatmeal flour instead of all purpose flour to make it gluten free and healthier. I also added in some ground hazelnuts..yummy!
Madhuram says
Great to know the gluten free version works alright too! 😀
Sheetu says
I tried these cookies yesterday. I did not have any cranberries and pistachios and just added roasted almond. Oh boy! they were really yummnn. I love to incorporate whole wheat pastry flour instead of maida whenever possible. Especially with a 2 year old cookie monster at home ;). Don't want to give too much maida to her. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Sheetu. 🙂
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Sheetu. 🙂
Melissa says
This was, hands-down, the best cookie dough I have ever tasted! I anticipated that including some subtle orange flavor would give it an extra burst of deliciousness, and boy was I right! I used four drops of food-grade wild orange essential oil (from doTERRA), but I think the same effect could be achieved by using orange extract or the zest of 1-2 oranges. Be sure to leave some of the dough unbaked, because while the cookies are delightful, the dough is TO DIE FOR. Also, I recommend chopping the pistachios and cranberries a bit before adding to the dough, partly to make the cookie-cutting easier, and partly because I just like smaller chunks of things in my baked goods.
Madhuram says
Wonderful feedback Melissa. You made my day. Thanks a bunch for the tip too. 🙂
YY says
These are amazing. I didn't have pistachios and substituted with roasted almonds. They worked just fine. My husband has been asking for more even before he finish. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with the extra notes on modifications too. It encouraged me to be more adventurous and flexible.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback and welcome YY.
Lisam says
These look yummazing! Question ~ are the pistachios the same as I buy for snacks? Or, are they specific for baking? Thanks. I can't wait to make these.
Madhuram says
As long as it is not salted you should be fine. Or salted should be ok too if you like salty and sweet cookies.
kiran gupta says
What is white wheat pastery flour orwhite whole wheat flour
Madhuram says
Whole wheat pastry flour and white whole wheat flour is different. Both are milled from soft wheat and have lower gluten content, so the baked goods will not have a strong flavor like regular whole wheat flour.
sowmya says
Hi Madhu,
The cookies came out soo awesome that they were over within 3 days. All 30 of them!! I didn't have pista or cranberries so i added almonds,walnuts and raisins.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback Sowmya.
Moka says
I did'nt have cranberries so did'nt put it but still the cookies tasted very good. I am making these cookies for the baby shower this weekend. I have a question though. What is the shelf life of these cookies?
Madhuram says
I really don't know Moka. But I think it should be good for at least 7-10 days if stored in an air-tight container. Or you could just freeze the cookies are even the dough and bake it whenever you need for a minute or two longer.
sowmya says
Madhu,
Would it alright to use atta is place of white whole wheat? And would the cookies come out ok if I used cookie cutter to cut them? Sort of like first slice the dough then cut using heart cookie cutter then combine the cut leftover pieces for making free hand cookie shapes? I'm trying to make valentine short bread cookies. Your recipes are so good! So I thought I could use one of yours.
sowmya
Madhuram says
If you are talking about brands like Deep, Pillsbury you should be fine but I'm not sure about any other brand. I wouldn't recommend using a cookie cutter for this recipe because there are plenty chances that the dough would crumble. Some of my round slices itself crumbled while slicing. You could try this Cranberry Shortbread Cookies recipe or Chocolate Shortbread Cookies recipe instead by flattening the dough and cutting out desired shapes.
sowmya says
Thanks Madhu. I am using Ashirvadh at home. Would that do?
Madhuram says
Yes, it should be fine.
Sam says
I thought it had posted my rating with my post. So sorry.
Madhuram says
That's okay Sam.
Sam says
I made this shortbread yesterday and there isn't much left. It is so delish! I used coconut oil and they came out perfect, tastes just like traditional shortbread. I also used AP flour and it worked great. Only thing I would do if using coconut oil is that it doesn't have to be in the fridge for as long as it says for the butter because it just gets so hard and then when cut it, it just crumbled (30 minutes should do it)
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback, Sam. I wish you could rate the recipe.
Deepika says
Tried these cookies and it turned out really delicious...Will try the same recipe as a savory next time with added spices and salt...am pretty confident they will turn out good...I halved the quantities and ended up with 30 cookies...
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback Deepika.
Vaishali says
Madhuram, I love these cranberry- and pistachio-studded goodies! What a perfect Christmas cookie.
How have you been? Here's wishing you a very happy new year.