If you're in the mood for something tasty and a little bit different, why not try making some of these vanilla and cranberry shortbread?
It's like your usual buttery shortbread, but with a festive twist thanks to the cranberries and a hint of smooth vanilla. These cookies are great for a laid-back Wintery afternoon snack or can be beautifully packaged up to share with friends over the holidays.
Let's dive into this simple recipe and whip up some delicious treats together!
What you will need to bake your Vanilla and Cranberry Shortbread:
225g Unsalted Butter, room temp
125g Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Vanilla Paste, I use LittlePod Vanilla
250g Plain Flour
Pinch of salt
25g Freeze Dried Cranberries
The nitty gritty - How to bake your Festive Shortbread:
Make your dough - Thoroughly combine together your butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy. Scrap down the sides to make sure all the butter and sugar has mixed together thoroughly and then add your vanilla paste and mix again. Next, mix in your flour and salt to form a soft pliable dough. Finally, gently fold in the cranberries.
Prep - Before you bake, you will need to roll out the dough to your desired thickness. I like to do this in-between two sheets of baking paper so you don’t have to add any additional flour (it’s also a lot less messy too!). Cut out your shapes - I find round works best with this recipe - then prick a few times with a fork in each before leaving to firm up in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
The bake - Preheat your oven to 160 degrees and put the shortbread on a lined tray with a good amount of space between each of them. Bake for around 10-15 minutes depending on the oven until they are golden brown underneath. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then dig in!
Top Tips to keep in mind whilst baking:
I use a 5cm round cutter but you can do rectangles or squares too if you prefer
These shortbread do spread quite a bit when baked so make sure there is plenty of space between them and don’t pick a detail cutter design - you wont get the definition
Don’t like Cranberries? The fruit can be swapped in for alternatives - just make sure it is freeze dried so that there is no additional liquid being added to the base recipe and adjust your volumes as necessary.
Make sure you use Vanilla Paste (or extract) and not essence. It is key to that Real Vanilla flavour and also Vanilla essence isn't really Vanilla at all! I always use LittlePod's Vanilla Paste in all my baking and thoroughly recommend.
Your bake time will be dependent on your oven and what tin you use. I would set a timer to check at 10mins and then keep a close eye on them because they can catch in an instant!
If you are gifting them, why not finish off by dipping a corner in white chocolate for a bit of a lift. The shortbread is already quite sweet so doesn’t need a full face dip (!) but it they will look fab if you are packaging them up as a present this festive season.
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