Cranberry and orange is already a delicious pairing for the holiday season, and it's even better inside this melt-in-your-mouth pecan cookie. The ingredients are combined using an unexpected and easy method that takes the flavor to another level.
Cranberry and orange are a delicious, festive pairing for the holiday season, and it's captured perfectly in this cranberry pecan cookie recipe.
I use a special technique with the butter in this recipe that makes them absolutely irresistible!
Dried cranberries are steeped in hot melted butter infused with vanilla, spice and orange zest. They become soft as they soak up the buttery, spiced flavors, and stay moist throughout the baking process.
These cookies are perfect to bring to holiday parties, for gifting, and of course, for eating yourself.
A Few Ingredient Notes
- dried cranberries - Be sure not to get dried cranberries that have added sugar.
- pecans - Use unsalted pecan halves. It's much better to be able to control how much salt is in a recipe. It's okay if they're roasted, and pecan pieces are also okay.
- orange zest - The zest should be as finely grated as possible. A microplane grater/grater is ideal for this, if you have one.
- allspice - Allspice is a warming spice that tastes like a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. You can use a combination of those three spices if you don’t have allspice, but the amount of nutmeg should be much less than the other two because its flavor is much more pungent, and can be bitter if there’s too much of it.
- maple syrup - Pecans inherently have a subtle maple flavor, and the syrup enhances that. If needed, you can substitute by adding two additional tablespoons of brown sugar.
- Kosher salt - If you use table salt, use half the listed amount.
How to Make Them
- Add the butter, dried cranberries, orange zest, vanilla, and allspice to a medium saucepan, and place it over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, bring it to a simmer. Then cover, turn off the heat, and let it sit for 1 hour.
After the steeping time, the cranberries will be plump and will have soaked up much of the butter.
- While the cranberries are steeping, add the pecans to a large skillet, and toast them over medium heat just until they're very aromatic, about 4 minutes. (Watch them carefully, as they can go from just right to burnt in seconds.) Remove them from the heat and add them to the bowl of a food processor. Set aside to cool.
Recipe tip: Toasting the pecans is especially important if they are raw. It will enhance their flavor greatly. If you purchased roasted pecans, it's still a good idea to toast them briefly.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- When the cranberries are done steeping, pour everything from the saucepan into the food processor bowl with the cooled pecans. Add both sugars, maple syrup, and salt, and blend until the pecans and cranberries are finely chopped. The consistency should be like a very coarse paste. Pour this into a large mixing bowl.
Recipe tip: The cranberry mixture should be at room temperature before adding it to the food processor.
- Add the eggs and mix until they’re fully incorporated. Then add the flour, baking soda and baking powder, and mix just until you no longer see dry spots.
- Use a 1¼-inch diameter cookie scoop to shape the batter into balls (about 1 tablespoon each), adding them to the prepared sheet pans as you go. They should have a few inches between them, as they will spread.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are just starting to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let them cool on the sheet pans for a few minutes, then transfer them with a flat spatula to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve once the cookies have cooled to room temperature.
Gluten-Free Variation
You can make the cranberry pecan cookies gluten-free - just swap out the regular all-purpose flour for Gluten-Free Cup4Cup Flour.
Storing Cookies
Room temperature. Once they're completely cooled, these cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for two days. If you don’t plan to serve them within the first couple days after baking them, you can freeze them.
Freezer. They can be kept frozen in an air-tight container for up to a month. (Longer is okay, but the longer they’re frozen, the more moisture they’ll lose.)
More Must-Try Cookies for the Holiday Season
I hope you find these Cranberry Pecan Cookies as amazing as my family and I do!
Cranberry Pecan Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1½ cups dried cranberries (with no sugar added)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon allspice
- 1½ cup raw pecan halves
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt (use half the amount if using table salt)
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Prep cranberries. Add the butter, dried cranberries, orange zest, vanilla, and allspice to a medium saucepan, and place it over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, bring it to a simmer. Then cover, turn off the heat, and let it sit for 1 hour.
- Toast pecans. While the cranberries are steeping, add the pecans to a large skillet, and toast them over medium heat just until they're very aromatic, about 4 minutes. (Watch them carefully, as they can go from just right to burnt in seconds.) Remove them from the heat and add them to the bowl of a food processor. Set aside to cool.
- Set oven and prep pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Process pecans with cranberry mixture. When the cranberries are done steeping, pour everything from the saucepan into the food processor bowl with the cooled pecans. (The cranberry-butter mixture should be cool enough at this point.) Add both sugars, maple syrup, and salt, and blend until the pecans and cranberries are finely chopped. The consistency should be like a very coarse paste. Pour this into a large mixing bowl.
- Finish the batter. Add the eggs and mix until they’re fully incorporated. Then add the flour and baking soda, and mix just until you no longer see dry spots.
- Shape. Use a 1¼-inch diameter cookie scoop to shape the batter into balls (about 1 tablespoon each), adding them to the prepared sheet pans as you go. They should have a few inches between them, as they will spread.
- Bake. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are just starting to turn golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let them cool on the sheet pans for a few minutes, then transfer them with a flat spatula to a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve once the cookies have cooled to room temperature.
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