Cranberry noels

I crave no fancy cookies for Christmas – just give me a simple shortbread cookie and I’ll be happy. It’s all about simple cookies that taste good and bring back the childhood memories. I started last week with simple almond shortbread cookies, and these Christmas cranberry noels from Martha Stewart are also simple to make and so good to taste: a crunchy texture paired with the chewiness of the cranberries – all in one cookie! The recipe uses the basic icebox cookie dough with the addition of dried cranberries. The cranberries are chopped in a food processor, and I omitted pecans from the original recipe. Then, after the cookie dough shaped as logs have been in the freezer/refrigerator, the cookie dough logs are rolled in decorative red sanding sugar to make cookies even more festive. Look at this beautiful log of raw cookie dough – I could eat it just like that:

The freezing of the dough for about 40 minutes and then refrigerating it for 30 minutes makes the dough stiffer which, in turn, makes it easier to slice the cookie dough in round shapes. You could also use cookie cutters like the star on my photo by letting the cookie dough soften a bit to room temperature. I did this to one of my cookie dough logs – left it on the counter to soften to reach room temperature so that I could roll it to the desired size of cookie cutters.

This raw cookie dough wrapped in plastic can be stored in the freezer for a couple of months, and once baked, the cookies keep well at room temperature in an air-tight container for a month.

1) In a large bowl, using mixer, cream butter, sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add milk and vanilla, beat to combine.

2) With mixer on low, gradually add flour and salt, continue beating until dough forms.

3) Chop dried cranberries in a food processor into smaller bits. Add chopped cranberries to the dough, mix with the spatula to combine.

4) Divide dough into 2 portions. Shape each portion into a log. I shaped each portion into different sized logs: small and big for smaller and bigger cookies. Wrap logs in plastic wrap, put in the freezer for 30 minutes, then in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

5) Preheat oven to 350. Place red decorating sugar on a plate. Roll each cookie log in red decorating sugar, pressing sugar to the dough to stick. Using sharp knife cut each log into thin slices, about1/4 inch thick. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until edges just start turning brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven, place cookies to cool on wire rack.

Mixing batter ingredients

Mixing chopped cranberries in

Rolling cookie dough logs of different sizes (for bigger and smaller cookies)

Cookie dough logs

Rolling the edges of cookie dough log in red sanding sugar

placing cookie dough slices on a baking sheet

Other cookie recipes:

• Chocolate peanut butter cookies
• Peanut butter surprise cookies with rolos
• Chocolate chip and white chocolate chip cookies
• Outrageous chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips
• Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies
• Outrageous chocolate cookies
• Rugelach with pecan and raisin filling
• Dark chocolate chip peanut butter cookies
• Soft yet crumbly chocolate chip almond cookies
• White chocolate macadamia nut cookies
• Chocolate covered hazelnut shortbread cookies
• Almond crescent Christmas cookies
• Almond shortbread cookies with Amaretto
• Peach shaped sandwich cookies with dulce de leche filling