Delicious Lemon Cranberry Cookies Recipe

While searching for a new recipe to try, I found this amazing recipe from Lord Byron’s Kitchen. I had bought too many cranberries and I had lemons that I needed to use. Everyone so far has LOVED these cookies! They are the perfect combination of sweet and tart. These can be made at any time of year as long as you have fresh cranberries. I was hoping dried cranberries would work but sadly, no.

What you Need:

Mixer (Handheld or Stand)

Measuring Cups

Measuring Spoons

Cookie Ingredients Needed:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sanding sugar
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, washed and patted dry
• 1 large lemon, zested first and then juiced – keep the zest and juice separate. For cookies, just the zest. The lemon juice is for the glaze.

For The Glaze:

• 1 large lemon, zested first and then juiced – keep the zest and juice separate. Same lemon from your cookies but just need the juice.
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner sugar

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. I prefer parchment paper but either works.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the sugar and lemon zest to create lemon sugar. The sugar will turn pale yellow when done. Using the lemon to infuse the sugar creates a more lemony cookie. The cookie will still take good but definitely not as great.
3. Add the butter and beat to combine until light and fluffy.
4. Next, add in the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Beat to combine.
5. Add the flour and mix into the butter mixture until just combined. Don’t over mix. I add my flour a little at a time
6. Portion into two-teaspoons and roll into balls. Roll each ball into the sanding sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using a cookie scoop is beneficial but you can also decide how small or big you want your cookies. These cookies won’t be as big as a traditional chocolate chip or sugar cookie.
7. Push a single cranberry into the center of the cookie.
8. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes. Leaving the cookies on the baking sheet allows them to “cook” just a little longer. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
9. Once cooled, place the confectioner’s sugar into a bowl and add about two teaspoons of lemon juice. Whisk to form a glaze. I use the measurements but I also go by how the glaze “flows”. If it’s too thin, it’ll end up everywhere and too thick, it won’t pipe out of the bag easily and appears lumpy.
10. Transfer the mixture to a sealable sandwich bag and cut a small tip from one of the lower corners. Use the bag to drizzle the glaze over the cookies in a zigzag pattern.  Once done, top with a sprinkling of sanding sugar. Allow glaze to firm up and harden before packaging cookies for storage.

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