Cranberry Pecan Cookie Recipe
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.Makes about 5-dozen cookies / Serving size: 2 cookies
Servings: 30
Calories: 184kcal
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.
Notes
Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 184kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 104mg | Potassium: 52mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 212IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg