Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

I love baking with buttermilk, as most of you know. I recently made lemon buttermilk cookies and they were fantastic. I decided to try them again, but with a twist.

This time I made cranberry orange cookies. The base is the same, but I added in orange zest and dried cranberries. I finished the cookies off with a orange glaze. So how do they compare to the lemon? It is a toss up, I love them both.

I really enjoyed the dried cranberries. They gave the cookies a little something extra. The orange glaze was nice too. I think I will add these to my fall/holiday baking list. They really are wonderful and cranberry/orange is such a great combination.

Cranberry Orange Buttermilk Cookies

(Printable Recipe)

For the cookies:

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Zest of one orange
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

For the glaze:

Confectioners sugar
Orange juice, fresh from the orange

Orange zest

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put the dried cranberries in a small bowl with hot water. Allow them to sit for a couple of minutes. Then drain. This just plumps them up:)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, zest, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter briefly, until creamy. Add the sugar, and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat well to mix. Add the vanilla, and beat briefly again. Mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add in the dried cranberries.

Drop the dough by level tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 ½ inches between each cookie. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, for about 11 minutes per batch. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 1 minute; then transfer them to a wire rack.

For the glaze, whisk together the sifted confectioners sugar, orange juice, and zest. I just guess on the amount. Brush or spoon the glaze onto the warm cookies. Allow cookies to sit on the rack until the glaze is set.