White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

These white chocolate cranberry cookies bake up with thick & soft centers, slightly crisp edges, and the perfect amount of dried cranberries and white chocolate. Their small size and natural holiday colors make these cookies perfect for a Christmas cookie exchange!

For more Christmas cookies, try Chocolate Chai Linzer Cookies, Soft Brown Butter Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies, and Salted Caramel Linzer Cookies. 

Why you'll love these white chocolate cranberry cookies

• Thick & Soft Texture: The texture of these cookies is unreal! They're thick and perfectly soft, making it difficult to not eat more than one!
• Cranberry & White Chocolate Combo: The classic cranberry & white chocolate combo is a must during the holidays!
• Quick Chill Time: These cookies do require a 30 minute freeze time, but I promise it's so worth it!

Ingredient Notes

• All-Purpose Flour: Use high-quality unbleached all-purpose flour, such as Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur Baking Co.
• Baking Powder: Most cookie recipes call for baking soda, but baking powder is the secret ingredient to making these cookies extra thick & soft!
• Unsalted Butter: I recommend using a high-quality European-style butter. Kerrygold is my favorite! 
• Sugars: You'll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
• Egg: Bring your egg to room temperature by adding it in a bowl of warm water.
• Vanilla: Use a good quality vanilla paste or extract. 
• Dried Cranberries: I added about ½ cup of dried cranberries to the cookie dough, but you can always add more or less depending on your preferences!
• White Chocolate: True white chocolate contains at least 20% cocoa butter. I highly recommend using a true high-quality white chocolate, such as Valrhona or Callebaut. I used Valrhona's Ivoire 35%.

See recipe card for full information on ingredients and individual quantities.

Step by Step Instructions

Here are step by step photos and instructions on how to make this white chocolate cranberry cookie recipe! For the full ingredient list and method, see the recipe card at the end of this post.

STEP 1: Cream the butter & sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars for 2-3 minutes until light & fluffy.

STEP 2: Mix in the egg & vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla until fully combined.

STEP 3: Mix in the dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl, then add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. 

STEP 4: Fold in the white chocolate & cranberries. Fold in the roughly chopped white chocolate and dried cranberries with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed. 

STEP 5: Portion & freeze the cookie dough. Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, portion the dough onto a small parchment lined baking sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes.

STEP 6: Bake. Place the frozen cookie dough balls on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes until barely golden on the edges. Once the cookies come out of the oven, immediately top each of them with more white chocolate, if desired. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheet, and enjoy!

Expert Baking Tips

• Use a cookie scoop. Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough into equally sized cookies!
• Freeze the portioned cookie dough. To ensure the cookies bake up thick, don't skip the freeze time!
• Scoot the cookies. Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, use a large round cookie cutter or glass to scoot the edges and form a perfectly round cookie.

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x