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White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Soft, chewy white chocolate cranberry cookies studded with tart dried cranberries and creamy white chocolate chips — the holiday cookie that looks like Christmas and tastes like a bakery. The dough comes together in one bowl, chills for just 30 minutes, and bakes into thick cookies with crisp edges, soft centers, and jewel-red cranberries in every bite. Perfect for cookie swaps, gift tins, and the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas baking stretch.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 2 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 30 cookies
Calories 195 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (280 g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened (170 g)
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (150 g)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g)
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest finely grated
  • 1 cup dried cranberries roughly chopped if large (120 g)
  • 1 1/4 cups white chocolate chips (215 g)
  • 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts or pecans (60 g) (optional)
  • Flaky sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Whisk the dry ingredients: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
  • Cream the butter and sugars: in a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light, fluffy, and pale. This long creaming step is what gives the cookies their soft, thick centers.
  • Add the eggs and flavorings: beat in the egg, then the egg yolk, vanilla extract, and orange zest, mixing just until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once so everything is evenly incorporated.
  • Add the dry ingredients: add the flour mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix — a few seconds past combined is enough, and overmixing makes the cookies tough.
  • Fold in the mix-ins: fold in the dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts (if using) with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed. The dough will be thick and soft.
  • Chill the dough: cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Chilling keeps the cookies thick instead of spreading flat, and it lets the orange zest and cinnamon bloom through the dough.
  • Scoop and bake: preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 2-tablespoon mounds of dough (about 55 g each) and space them 2 inches apart. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look slightly soft.
  • Cool and finish: let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes — they finish setting as they cool — then transfer to a wire rack. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt while still warm, if using. Cool completely before stacking or packing.

Notes

Chill the dough for the full 30 minutes. Warm dough spreads into thin, crisp cookies; chilled dough bakes up thick with soft centers — and the orange zest and cinnamon taste brighter after the rest.
 
Use an extra egg yolk. The yolk adds richness and chew that a single whole egg alone cannot give — it is the difference between a good cookie and a bakery-style one.
 
Chop large cranberries in half. Whole dried cranberries are big and chewy; chopped pieces distribute evenly so every bite gets tart cranberry and sweet white chocolate together.
 
Pull them out while the centers look soft. The cookies finish baking on the hot sheet during the 5-minute rest. If they look fully done in the oven, they will be overbaked and dry once cooled.
 
Freeze the dough, not the cookies. Scoop the dough into balls, freeze solid on a sheet pan, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen at 350°F for 13 to 14 minutes — fresh cookies on demand all through December.