Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread
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This buttery shortbread is filled with cranberries, pistachios and orange zest. It’s an easy slice and bake cookie is perfect for the holidays.
If you’re looking for a buttery, flavorful shortbread recipe – then this cranberry pistachio shortbread is perfect. Sometimes I find shortbread can tastes bland or boring, but not these. They have a delicious crunch without being dry, and are filled with Christmas flavors thanks to fresh orange zest, tart cranberries and pistachios.
Like all classic shortbread – there are only 3 main ingredients: butter, sugar and flour. The classic, buttery shortbread flavor comes from the obvious culprit. So you really must use 100%, real butter – no substitutions here. Because butter is rich on its own, there isn’t too much sugar in the recipe. Then we’re using just the right amount of flour. Make sure to whisk the flour first, then spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the top when measuring. Or use a weigh scale which is definitely the most accurate way to measure – I’ve included the weights in the recipe.
Note – too much flour and shortbread gets dry and flavorless. Not enough and it can fall apart or spread too thin.
Then for flavorings we’re adding in freshly grated orange zest, dried cranberries and pistachios. You’ll need to roughly chop the cranberries and pistachios first. This is important because if you don’t the cookies can fall apart if the pieces are too big.
What’s great about this shortbread recipe is that it’s a slice and bake variety. Therefore you can make the dough in advance and pop it in the fridge for up to 4 days before baking, or freeze for up to 2 months. Then thaw in the fridge overnight before baking. You’ll divide the dough into 2 equal pieces, and then form each half into a log shape about 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter. It’s really important to form the dough into a dense, tight log. Continue to press the dough together tightly as you form each log. You’ll wrap each log in wax paper or parchment, twist the ends and then pop it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
When you’re ready to bake, simply unwrap the log and slice into cookies about 1/4 inch thick.
This tasty cranberry pistachio shortbread is simple, buttery, and not too sweet. If you’d like to take it up a notch, you can even dip half of each cookie in white chocolate.
I love cranberries, pistachios and orange zest as a delicious flavor combo for the holidays. And if you’re looking for more cranberry recipes, I’d recommend trying:
Note: After receiving comments from readers that the dough was difficult to work with and too dry, I updated this recipe December 1, 2023 to adjust for this.
Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar*
- 2 cups all-purpose flour*, AKA plain flour - 250 grams
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries , chopped
- 3/4 cup unsalted pistachios*, chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
- With the mixer on low speed mix in the flour, salt and orange zest until just combined. The dough will be thick.
- Stir in the chopped cranberries and pistachios.
- Place a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on the counter. Take 1/2 of the dough, place it on the sheet of wax paper and form it into a log shape about 1 to 1 1/2 inch (2-3 cm) in diameter. Roll up the log in wax paper and twist the ends. Really think of packing the log tightly as you form the log.
- Repeat the process with the 2nd half of the dough, so you end up with 2 logs.
- Place the logs in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or up to 3 days. Logs can be frozen for up to 2 months in a freezer container, then thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325F (16FC) and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
- Take 1 log out of the fridge at a time, unwrap the log and slice into cookies about 1/4 - 1/3 inch thick (about 0.5 cm).
- Place cookies 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 14-17 minutes, or until the tops looks set and around the edges are starting to turn golden brown.
Notes
- Recipe Update: After reviews from readers about the dough being too crumbly to work with, the recipe was updated December 1, 2023.
- This recipe doesn't use too much sugar - which is typical of shortbread.
- Make sure to measure the flour correctly. Either whisk it first, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. Or use a weighing scale for the most correct measurement.
- You'll want to use shelled pistachios with the skin off.
- Logs can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking. Or place cookie dough logs in a freezer container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw logs in the fridge overnight, then slice and bake. Do not thaw dough on the counter because it will get too soft.
- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or can be frozen for up to 2 months.
- Nutrition information is an estimate only and based on 1 cookie, assuming the recipe yields 36 equal-sized cookies.
I do love me some shortbread cookies and I’ve made these before, but after the dough was cold and I tried to cut. They do crumble apart, and I have to use my hands to warm the dough up a little bit to squeeze them together. Maybe next time I will add a little bit Orange juice to the batter. Also when I’m wrapping them up and I cut them I noticed it’s a little bit hollow in the center that could be due to the dryness of the dough. I did follow the directions exactly I did fluff my flour before leveling off.
Easy to make and super tasty! One of my new favorites to bake.
I am not much of a baker, but I wanted to try a shortbread cookie for the family since they make all the other traditional cookie recipes from our mothers/grandmothers, for the holidays.
This recipe was not hard to make at all and came out just like the recipe called for. I found them to be buttery and flavorful. I love shortbread cookies so this will definitely be added to my Christmas list of bakes!
Could do with an extra 1/4 cup sugar I think. Great recipe otherwise. Nice flavors!!
These are ok… fantastic flavor, but not buttery tasting enough for me for a shortbread cookie. I also found that they’re not sweet at all. I feel like they need a little bit of regular sugar versus powdered sugar.
Made these today for a Christmas cookie exchange. They are delicious and so buttery. The orange zest gives it a great an unexpected pop! Love this recipe.
Great recipe, have made it several times. If my dough is too dry I just squeeze some juice from the zested orange and problem solved. Makes a great gift too!
I love this recipe! Typically, I’m not a fan of shortbread, but this flavour combination is spot on! I’ve made this recipe exactly as posted multiple times and they’ve turned out perfect with many rave reviews from my friends & family.
Thank you & Happy Baking!!
Thank you so much, Barb! I’m so glad the cookies got such great reviews.
Awful! Hard to roll into a log and then when you try to slice them to bake (after refrigerating 4 hours), they crumble apart. Never making these again.
Hi Doris – I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. It sounds like there was too flour. Did you whisk the flour first before measuring, then spoon into a dry measuring cup.
I am a big fan of shortbread. This cookie recipe was not only just easy to make and delicious to my palette; it was a big hit at my welcome event. Many members asked for the recipe. The balanced flavour of chopped cranberries, shredded orange peel and chopped pistachios made this shortbread outstanding.
Oh my goodness these shortbread cookies are to die for! Thank you for so much for adding the specifics about whisking and scooping the flour to have an appropriate measurement. I made these a couple days before I needed to bake them and froze the batter, thawed out in the fridge overnight, cut them to get a yield of a total of 36 cookies, which came out perfect and they were mighty delicious my new fave recipe!💜🍪💜
Thank you so much Rita! So glad you found a new favorite!
Very good and so easy to make. Only used a hand mixer and then folded in cranberries/pistachios by hand. I used a low sugar variety of cranberries and added approx 100g of granulated sugar to the dough. Came up perfect at the 15min mark. Will be gifting these, thank you!