Fresh cranberries feel so festive making them perfect for the holiday season. These White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies will be sure to put you in the holiday spirit! This no-chill dough comes together in about 5 minutes without needing a mixer, making these the best quick and easy cookie recipe all season long!
For more festive holiday cookie ideas, try French Toast Cookies and Chocolate Peppermint Cookies.
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They are delightful! LOVE that it starts with melted butter - so great for last-minute baking when all the butter is super cold...Went out and bought more cranberries to keep in the freezer so I can make this year-round. Definitely a keeper!
- Megan
🍭 Short & Sweet Recipe Overview
- ⏲️ Time: Takes just 20 minutes, 8 minutes to prep and 12 minutes to bake
- 🛒 Ingredients: Needs just 11 ingredients
- 🍽️ Servings: Makes 36 cookies
- 🥣 Difficulty: Quick and Easy, One-Bowl, Kid-Friendly
- 👩🍳 Prep: Can be baked in advance, or prepped ahead and frozen until ready to bake
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Delicious, tart and sweet flavor combo studded with fresh cranberries and white chocolate chips in every bite
- Quick & Easy, taking just 20 minutes, one bowl, no electric mixers, and no chill time
- Perfect for the holidays, great for cookie exchanges or cookie boxes, Christmas parties, or other festive gatherings, or even just to have on hand for the holiday season - even Santa will love these
- Freezer-Friendly great for prepping ahead
These are great for a holiday cookie swap, or your Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert table! For more easy and delicious holiday cookies, check out these Red Velvet Cake Mix Cookies, these Mini Egg Cookies using the Christmas mini eggs, and these Chocolate Chipless Cookies loaded with brown sugar and caramel flavors.
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Ingredients and Notes
Cranberries - This recipe uses fresh, real cranberries. This gives the cookies bursts of tart cranberry goodness. If you're looking for a recipe that uses canned cranberry sauce, check out this elevated Bourbon Cranberry Sauce!
Cornstarch - Cornstarch gives the White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies a soft and chewy texture. This also helps reduce how much the cookies spread when they bake which is key in a no-chill cookie dough!
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients.
Substitutions & Variations
Cranberries - Frozen cranberries can be used in place of fresh so you can enjoy these delicious cookies year-round. However, I have not tested this recipe substituting dried cranberries. These Blueberry Cookies are another great recipe bursting with fresh fruit goodness in every bite!
Did you know that cranberries can only be sold fresh if they are hand-picked and each one is manually checked for freshness? A majority of cranberries are not hand-picked so they have to be sold frozen.
White Chocolate Chips - Chopped white chocolate bars will work great too! Milk or dark chocolate chips can also be used, but I find the sweetness of the white chocolate best balances the tartness of the fresh cranberries.
Browned Butter - For a bit more depth of flavor, consider using browned butter in place of melted butter. To brown butter, continue heating the butter beyond when it has melted until brown bits form at the bottom and the butter has a nutty smell. Keep a close eye on it to avoid burned butter! If using browned butter, add an extra tablespoon of butter to the recipe as some additional butter will evaporate as it browns.
Orange Zest - For an extra burst of fresh flavor, consider adding a teaspoon or two of orange zest to the batter. This can be added at the same time as the eggs and vanilla.
How to Make White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
- Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
- Step 2: Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
- Step 3: Mix in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until just combined.
- Step 4: Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- Step 5: Scoop dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Step 6: Bake at 375°F for approximately 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack and cool completely. Enjoy!
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies Tips & Tricks
Tip #1: Only stir in the flour mixture until it's just barely combined. Ideally you'll still have some streaks of flour remaining, which will be incorporated as the mix-ins are stirred. Once flour is added to dough, the dough should be mixed as little as possible.
Tip #2: I've created this fresh cranberry cookie recipe so that the dough does not need to chill before baking. Because of this, the dough is stiff so that the cookies don't spread too thin when they bake. I strongly recommend using a bigger mixing bowl than you think you'll need so that you have plenty of room for stirring without your ingredients flying out! For a classic no-chill cookie, check out these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Tip #3: As soon as the White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies come out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter or the top of a cup or container with a round opening and run it in a circle around the outside of each cookie to create a perfectly round cookie.
Recipe FAQs
The melted butter in this fresh cranberry cookie recipe contributes to a chewier cookie texture. Brown sugar also helps create a chewy cookie, whereas white granulated sugar generally gives a slightly crispier texture. You'll also want to ensure you don't over-mix your cookie dough once the flour is added, and be sure not to over-bake the cookies. This will all help keep them soft and chewy. And to ensure they stay soft and chewy for longer, be sure to store them in an airtight container, and they should last approximately 2 weeks at room temperature.
Yes! My recommendation is to form the balls of dough and freeze those on a baking sheet. Once they're frozen, you can move them to a zip-top baggie and store them in the freezer. I suggest labeling the baggie with the name of the recipe, the bake temperature, bake time, and where the recipe is from (in case you want to pull it up again!). These can then be baked from frozen, but may need an extra minute or two of bake time.
This recipe uses a very thick dough so they should not spread too much when they bake. If you are getting flat cookies when you bake these, pop the dough in the fridge for 15-30 minutes and then bake them from slightly chilled dough. If they're still spreading, you can increase chill time. If this still doesn't resolve the issue, you can add a bit more flour - start with just a tablespoon or two, as we don't want to adjust it too much and impact the cookies' flavor and texture!
More Fresh Fruit Recipes to try!
👩🍳 If you tried these White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- silicone spatula
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter 8 tablespoons, melted
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt Diamond Crystal
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
- 1 ½ cups cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F.
- Combine butter and sugars.1 stick butter, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, ½ cup sugar
- Stir in eggs and vanilla.2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and mix until combined.2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips.1 ½ cups cranberries, 2 cups white chocolate chips
- Form balls of dough, about 1 tablespoon, and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for about 12 minutes, until slightly golden brown.
- Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the pan, and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated so should only be used as an estimate. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Megan Koller says
They are delightful! LOVE that it starts with melted butter - so great for last minute baking when all the butter is super cold.
Because we were out of ingredients, I didn't follow the recipe exactly (didn't have enough brown sugar, so just used mostly white sugar) but they still worked. And I used dark chocolate chunks instead of white. Loved having the dark chocolate in there, but should have chopped the pieces smaller. It was too hard to mix into the thick dough.
Went out and bought more cranberries to keep in the freezer so I can make this year round. Definitely a keeper!
Liz Pollio says
I love using melted butter in cookies because I'm too impatient to wait for it to come to room temperature! And dark chocolate sounds like a delicious substitution!! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! (and that we have matching cranberry freezer stashes!!)