Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookie Recipes 2020

These orange-infused cookies are packed full of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips and just scream “Christmas!” Baked to perfection, the tops of these cookies are crisp while the center is soft. The flavor of this cookie is unique and sure to add some flair to your cookie plate or dessert line up this holiday season!

It has been so fun to see the dehydrating oranges/citrus trend this year for Christmas- I’m loving everyone’s wreaths and garlands! As I wrote down my list of inspired flavors, I just kept thinking about those cute oranges, so I had to make a flavor in honor of this year’s trend!

I also don’t know about you, but oranges are so nostalgic for me this time of the year. “Santa” would always place an orange in our stockings every Christmas morning as well as one of those delicious chocolate oranges. My siblings and I always looked forward to cracking our chocolate oranges the moment we opened them up and they were probably the first thing we ate Christmas morning 😋

I loved adding the touch of white chocolate chips and cranberries to this recipe! They are creamy and sweet. It is always so nice to have a dessert that is on the lighter side and not chocolate and these cookies definitely hit the spot.

For this recipe, I begin by cutting cold butter into tablespoons and then mixing it on low in my electric mixer until the butter has somewhat softened. I then add the sugars and vanilla instant pudding mix (dry) and cream on low until the sugars, pudding, and butter are well combined. I then add the orange extract and orange zest as well as the eggs and mix on low until everything is well combined.

Once the wet ingredients above are well mixed you can add the dry ingredients. This recipe will work best if you sift the dry ingredients together first and slowly add to the wet ingredients while mixing on low. Once the dry and wet ingredients are well mixed, add the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

At this point, you will either weigh your cookies to be 2.5 oz-3 oz for small cookies or 5 oz for large cookies. Make sure to pile your cookie dough high into round mounds rather than rolling the dough to make it a perfect ball. If your dough has softened too much, your cookies will most likely fall flat and spread out too far. Make sure to refrigerate your cookie dough if it is no longer “sticky” or holding shape. Bake the cookies at 400 degrees for 8 minutes, and remove them from the oven when the tops are lightly browned. DO NOT remove your cookies from the sheet as they will finish baking for the next 30 or so minutes!

These cookies are delicious at all temperatures but I must say they are most delectable WARM. So do yourself a favor and pop them into the microwave if they have cooled off- you’ll be so glad you did.

Orange Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

An orange infused cookie packed with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

  

• 1 C Unsalted butter, COLD, cut into tablespoons
• 3/4 C Packed brown sugar, light
• 1/2 C Granulated Sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 Small Package Instant Pudding Vanilla (Dry)
• 2 tsp Orange Extract (or less, if you want less orange flavor)
• 1/2 Tbsp Orange Zest
• 1 C Cake Flour
• 1 3/4 C All Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 bag White Chocolate Chips
• ½-1 Cup Dried Cranberries

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400 Degrees
• Cut cold butter into tablespoon fragments
• Mix butter on low, until softened
• Mix butter with both sugars and vanilla pudding mix, on low speed until creamed.
• Crack eggs and add to dough. Add orange zest and extract, Mix on low until well combined.
• Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Pulse the mixer to incorporate ingredients, do not over mix!
• Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries
• Mound up cookie dough into 5 oz balls for large cookies or 2.5-3 oz for small cookies.
• Place cookie dough balls on cookie sheet w/ parchment paper or silicone mats. Balls shouldn’t be perfectly round but rather tall mounds of dough.
• Bake for 9-12 minutes (cookies will be done when the tops are light brown)
• Let cool on warm cookie sheet for at least 30 minutes (the cookies will finish baking on sheet!)