These white chocolate cranberry cookies are crisp at the edges, soft and chewy in the middle! Studded with macadamia nuts, white chocolate, and bright tart cranberries that cut through the sweetness, making each bite perfectly balanced!
Chewy, chunky, these soft-baked white chocolate cranberry cookies are bakery-style cookies you can make right at home! The dough is easy to make and needs to be prepped ahead, which is perfect for the busy cookie season. Make the dough ahead of time and park it in the fridge for a day or in the freezer for a month!
Perfect for your Holiday cookie tray, for gifting, cookie exchanges, or enjoying with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
✨ The creamy white chocolate and bright, tangy cranberries create a combo that's perfectly balanced and looks holiday-ready!
✨ The dough comes together easily and is freezer-friendly, making it a great make-ahead cookie recipe!
✨Soft chewy texture every time! A quick chill gives a thick, chunky cookie with a soft center and crispy edges - the kind everyone reaches out for first!
✨ With a pop of white and red, the cranberry cookies look festive without any effort. Perfect for holiday entertaining, gifting, or Christmas cookie boxes.
Recipe Ingredients
Butter: I use salted butter. Also, make sure your butter is at room temperature and softened. Softened butter helps the dough cream properly, so the cookies bake evenly.
Sugar: Brown sugar adds a warm caramel flavor that pairs beautifully with tart cranberries. Caster sugar (also known as castor sugar, superfine sugar, or baker's sugar) brings sweetness. It also balances the deeper flavor of the brown sugar. You can swap this with regular granulated sugar.
Flour: All-purpose flour is the best here for chewy, tender cookies.
Egg binds everything together and gives structure.
Vanilla extract rounds out all the flavors. It makes the white chocolate cookies taste warm and balanced.
Nuts: Creamy, rich, subtly sweet macadamia nuts are a great match with white chocolate and cranberries. You can skip them or use almonds or hazelnuts instead. Pistachios taste great too, much like my cranberry pistachio biscotti and pistachio financiers.
White chocolate chips are the star of the show! They melt into soft pockets throughout the cookie. Please use coverture chocolate here for the best taste. I prefer Callebaut, but any good-quality baking chocolate brand will do wonders here.
Dried cranberries make the cookies chewy and, of course, ring in the festive, ruby-red pop of color.
Please see the recipe card below for full information about the ingredients and quantities.
How To Make White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Step 1: Beat softened butter until it is light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add the brown sugar and caster sugar. Beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.
Step 3: Add the all-purpose flour and baking soda and mix well with a spatula.
Step 4: Fold in the white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and macadamia nuts.
Step 5: Chill the white chocolate cookie dough for at least 2 hours. You can even keep it overnight.
Step 6: Scoop cookie dough balls onto a lined baking tray while the oven preheats.
Step 7: Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges look set. Add extra white chocolate chips and sliced cranberry pieces on top while still warm.
Final step: Cool and serve!
Pro Tips
- The dough for these cranberry white chocolate cookies is a little stiff. So, use your hands to fold in nuts and chocolate chips.
- Chill the dough. It adds flavor and gives you thick, chunky bakery-style cookies.
- It’s easier to scoop the dough first and then chill. Scoop out the soft cookie dough (I prefer a 1-inch scoop) on your prepared tray, and then refrigerate them. So, when it’s time to bake, you just have to slide the tray into the oven.
- This cookie dough will stay well in the fridge for up to 2 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Leave space between cookie balls. They do spread a bit. If need be, bake the cookies in two batches.
- Want crisper cookies? Bake 1–2 minutes longer, though still won’t be completely crispy (it is a soft-baked cookie recipe).
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! You might need to bake them for a little longer, as fresh cranberries have more moisture than dried.
Allow the cookies to cool completely. Then stash the chocolate and cranberry cookies in an airtight container, and they’ll keep well for 2 weeks.
Yes, you can! Scoop the dough out on a tray. Freeze for a few hours. Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer-friendly bag or container. Freeze for up to 2 months.
📖 Recipe
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Butter, softened I used salted butter
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Caster sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 cup White chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup Dried cranberries, sliced
- 1/3 cup Macadamia nuts, chopped
Instructions
- Beat the softened butter in a large bowl for 30-60 seconds, with an electric beater.3/4 cup Butter, softened
- Add the brown sugar and caster sugar. Beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy.1/2 cup Brown sugar, 1/4 cup Caster sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.1 Egg, 1.5 tsp Vanilla extract
- Add the all-purpose flour and baking soda. Mix well using a spatula.2 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tsp Baking soda
- Fold in the white chocolate, cranberries, and macadamia nuts.1/2 cup White chocolate chips, 1/3 cup Dried cranberries, sliced, 1/3 cup Macadamia nuts, chopped
- Scoop the dough out using a 1" ice cream scoop on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or Silpat.
- Chill the dough balls for at least 2 hours.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F.
- Place the cookie dough balls at least 1" apart and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are light golden brown.Place some extra chocolate chips and sliced cranberries on top of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven. This is an optional step.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring them to a cooling rack. Store the cooled cookies in an air-tight jar. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- The dough for these cranberry white chocolate cookies is a little stiff. So, use your hands to fold in nuts and chocolate chips.
- Chill the dough. It adds flavor and gives you thick, chunky bakery-style cookies.
- It’s easier to scoop the dough first and then chill. Scoop out the soft cookie dough (I prefer a 1-inch scoop) on your prepared tray, and then refrigerate them. So, when it’s time to bake, you just have to slide the tray into the oven.
- This cookie dough will stay well in the fridge for up to 2 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Leave space between cookie balls. They do spread a bit. If need be, bake the cookies in two batches.
- Want crisper cookies? Bake 1–2 minutes longer, though still won’t be completely crispy (it is a soft-baked cookie recipe).
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