These cranberry orange icebox cookies deliver big flavor from surprisingly simple ingredients. Enjoy a buttery shortbread-like cookie flecked with chewy dried cranberries and fragrant orange zest. For a sparkly edge and sweet crunch, roll the logs of dough in coarse sugar before slicing and baking. And drizzle on an easy 2-ingredient orange glaze for a flavorful finishing touch.
These bejeweled-looking cranberry orange cookies are surprisingly simple to make. You need very basic baking ingredients, and the dough comes together in just 1 bowl. (Is that music to your ears!?)
The juice and zest of a fresh orange gives these buttery shortbread-like cookies a bright and cheery flavor, complemented by the sweet-tart dried cranberries. I love this flavor combo, as evidenced by recipes like cranberry orange scones and orange cranberry bread.
And you’ll love the convenience of these icebox cookies! Make the dough ahead of time, pop it in the refrigerator, then just slice and bake when you’re ready. With so many Christmas cookies to make, I know we all appreciate a great make-ahead recipe.
Why You’ll Love These Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
- Simple, basic ingredients
- Easy-to-follow 1-bowl recipe
- Buttery shortbread flavored with fresh orange and studded with chewy dried cranberries
- Soft and thick in the centers, crispy around the edges
- Cranberry + orange combo is flavorful and colorful—so festive!
- A great make-ahead cookie recipe
- No rolling individual dough balls—just slice and bake
- Easy 2-ingredient icing
They’re called icebox cookies for a reason: chilling the cookie dough logs is essential. Like pinwheel cookies (another slice-and-bake style cookie), the cookie dough is very buttery and, without time in the refrigerator, will bake into greasy puddles. Let’s save the puddles for chocolate lava cakes.
It may seem like an exercise in delayed gratification, but I prefer to think of it as a great make-ahead recipe! The cookie dough logs can hang out in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or you can freeze them for even longer. Simply thaw in the refrigerator for an hour or two before slicing and baking. Having some cookie dough in the freezer is such a time-saver during the busy holiday season!
Simple Ingredients
The base dough for these slice-and-bake cookies is just like reader-favorite dark chocolate orange slice-and-bake cookies. Which, honestly, is sort of like my shortbread cookie dough and classic roll-out dough for sugar cookies combined. Butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, salt… Cookie Crew, assemble!
The only other ingredients you need are a navel orange (zest and juice), dried cranberries, some coarse sugar for rolling, and confectioners’ sugar for the icing.
How to Make Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
This is all very easy! I love the slice-and-bake style (aka icebox) method and you can find more variations on my website and in my cookbook, including coconut-y Santa’s whiskers cookies, colorful sprinkle slice-and-bakes, and toasted hazelnut slice-and-bake cookies.
Make the cookie dough all in 1 bowl, and then divide in half. It’s quite creamy, so have a little extra flour on hand.
Shape each portion into a log (just roll it), and then wrap up tightly and chill for 3 hours. After that, roll the dough logs in coarse sugar. I always use these sparkling sugar sprinkles or something like Sugar in the Raw. It provides a little extra sparkle and crunch, but it’s an optional step.
Slice the dough logs. They’re about 7 or 8 inches, so each cookie is a bit more than 1/2 inch thick.
Arrange on your lined baking sheet and bake.
2-Ingredient Icing
Once your cookies have fully cooled, make the easy icing by whisking together sifted confectioners’ sugar and a little orange juice. Honestly, this might be even easier than the topping for Andes mint chocolate cookies! For extra control over the drizzling, I pour the icing into a squeeze bottle, but you certainly don’t have to do this. (The same squeeze bottles I use for decorating Christmas sugar cookies with easy cookie icing!)
Or you can simply dip a fork in the icing and drizzle it over the cooled cookies.
Can I use white or dark chocolate instead? YES! See recipe Note for details.
The icing sets after 30–60 minutes, so you can easily store, stack, and transport the cookies. They may seem really simple, but these cranberry-speckled cookies were the first to go from a cookie tray I put together the other week… which also included crowd-favorites peanut butter blossoms and chocolate crinkle cookies. That says something!!!!
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Almond Butter Sparkle Cookies
- Cinnamon Palmiers
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies
- Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies
and here are my top 10 cookie baking tools if you’re looking for recommendations!
Cranberry Orange Icebox Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (includes dough chilling)
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Enjoy a buttery shortbread-like cookie flecked with chewy dried cranberries and fragrant orange zest. Drizzle on an easy 2-ingredient orange glaze for a flavorful finishing touch. Make sure you have a citrus juicer and zester.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 3/4 cup (100g) very finely chopped dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
- optional: coarse sugar for rolling, such as this sparkling sugar
Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) orange juice
- optional: more orange zest
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed, and continue to beat until fully combined. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until combined. Finally, beat in the orange juice, orange zest, and dried cranberries until just combined. The cookie dough will be thick and slightly sticky.Â
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, divide or cut in half. Roll/shape each half into a 7- or 8-inch log, about 2.5 inches in diameter. The measurements don’t have to be exact. Tightly wrap the dough logs in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 5 days. Chilling is mandatory for this cookie dough. I prefer to chill mine overnight; the orange flavor really comes through the longer this dough sits!
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Optional rolling in sugar: Pour enough coarse sugar on an 8-inch or larger plate to cover it. Roll the logs in the sugar. You may need to really press the dough logs down into the sugar if it’s not really sticking. (I find coating the dough logs in sugar after chilling much easier, as the dough is too sticky to neatly roll in sugar right after mixing.)
- Slice each dough log into 12 equally thick cookies and arrange cookies on prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 13–15 minutes or until very lightly brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Icing: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice together. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Feel free to top each with more orange zest while icing is still wet. The icing sets after 30–60 minutes, so you can easily store, stack, and transport the cookies.
- Cookies will stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.Â
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Baked cookies, with or without icing, freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature, if desired, before serving. You can make/assemble the cookie dough logs and chill in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (see step 2). Cookie dough logs freeze well too, up to 3 months. Allow the logs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then continue with step 3.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Rolling Pin | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Coarse Sugar | Cooling Rack
- Can I dip in white or dark chocolate instead? Yes! Cranberries, orange, and white or dark chocolate are a great trio of flavors! Feel free to skip the icing and dip the cookies in (or drizzle the cookies with) melted white or dark chocolate, just like these sprinkle slice-and-bake cookies or these dark chocolate orange slice-and-bake cookies.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
I don’t normally leave reviews for recipes but I I feel compelled to do so for this one. These cookies are delicious little morsels of PERFECTION. Do yourself a favor and make these cookies asap!
Love these so much! I used 1/2 cup cranberries and 1/2 cup chopped pistachios. Skipped rolling them in sugar, but do not skip the glaze! Delicious.
Hi Sally I want to make these for Christmas gifts (for about seven couples) – can I do a triple batch? Or do you recommend making it three separate times? Thanks!
Hi Ashleigh, doubling or tripling the recipe should work if you have a mixer that can handle the large amount of dough. But we usually suggest making separate batches to avoid over or under-mixing the dough and to avoid overwhelming your mixer. Let us know what you try!
Do you think the recipe would work using half a cup butter instead ? I am trying to reduce the amount of butter.
Hi Diana, the cookies would be much too crumbly with only half the butter. We recommend following the recipe as is for best results.
Hi Sally! Could I substitute a cutie/clementine for the orange juice/zest? Thanks!
Absolutely!
Only complaint I have is that one batch isn’t enough. These are sooo good.
I chilled this dough overnight and it made for the most delicious cookie. I sprinkled them with turbanado sugar instead of rolling them. I am adding this recipe to the mix of cookies I’m making and giving away for Christmas. Orange zest is everything!
Dear Sally, I followed the recipe to the t but they spread terribly while baking. What did I do wrong? They stayed in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Mary
Hi Mary, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like your butter may have been a bit too warm (room temperature butter may be cooler than you think!) and/or the flour was under measured (be sure to spoon and level or use a scale to ensure just the right amount). This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading may also be a helpful resource to review. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
These came out perfectly. Thank you so much for your hard work testing them. I even tested the temperature of my butter to make sure it got to room temperature!
What would you think about 1/2 candied orange bits and 1/2 cranberries? What would you adjust if you think it’s a good idea? Thanks!
Hi Cheryl, that sounds fantastic! I don’t think there’s any adjustments needed, just use 6 Tbsp of each add-in to reach 3/4 cup.
Great cookies. We are really enjoying this flavor combination.
I want to share how I coated the log with the coarse sugar. I spread the sugar onto a kitchen towel approximately the width of each log. I then rolled each log across the towel I then was able to lift the towel around the logs after the first coating and press sugar into the spots where the sugar was sparse.
I found this easier than rolling on a plate.
My husband loves this flavor combination, so I was excited to try this recipe. I have to say, these taste like Christmas! I’m not usually someone who would eat these…. But you’ve proven me wrong! We thought the sugar around the outside was enough… and skipped the icing.
I prepared the dough yesterday and baked them this morning. ABSOLUTELY delicious!!! I didn’t roll in the sugar but did use the icing which added an extra nice sweet orange flavour. They were so easy to make and will definitely be added to my Christmas cookie repertoire. Thank you Sally for your recipes and the great tips that you include.
Can the logs of dough be frozen for later use?
Absolutely! See recipe notes for instructions.
HI Sally , Question: Is it possible to substitute a vegan margarine in this recipe ? My son allergic to dairy.Thank you .
We don’t have any experience with vegan margarine so are unsure of the results. Let us know if you give it a try!
Eleanor, I just made these cookies using becel margarine sticks and they turned out great! They do spread a bit likely because it is margarine and not butter, but still retain their shape and an edge around it. Definitely follow Sally’s guideline to give about 2-inch space between and they’ll have room. They are SO delicious!
I’m so glad I tried this cookie recipe! I have arthritis in my hands, and kitchen shears made it easier to cut the craisins in small pieces. Also I added 1/8 teaspoon of Vietnamese cinnamon, it heightened the cranberry/orange flavors. Dipped half of baked cookie in melted white chocolate, sprinkled with coarse sugar. Really pretty, so delicious.
I don’t usually leave a review, but this is the BEST holiday shortbread cookie ever! So easy and delicious. The icing is yummy. I like the fact that you give us lots of tips. Thanks so much.
These are the best delicious cranberry orange cookies. The juice and zest are key. I dipped mine in melted chocolate chips for festive touch & added zest. Took to church tea.
Would love to share a picture?
We’re so glad they were a hit, Sandra! Feel free to send us a photo at sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com — we always love to see reader photos.
My family always asks me to cut down on the listed amount of sugar whenever I bake. I reduce it by 1/2 – 1/3 of the listed amount, but I worry that this will negatively affect the bake. How should I deal with this?
Hi Quinn, while you can try reducing the amount of sugar in these cookies (and other baked goods), it will impact the texture and structure of the cookies in addition to the taste. We’d recommend starting small and then adjusting for future batches. You could also leave off the optional glaze to reduce the sweetness a bit.
I made these, but they don’t look the the picture . . . they didn’t hold their shape, but spread out and flattened. I did chill them for about 6 hours. Any suggestions?
Hi Judy, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like your butter may have been a bit too warm (room temperature butter may be cooler than you think!) and/or the flour was under measured (be sure to spoon and level or use a scale to ensure just the right amount). This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading may also be a helpful resource to review. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Can you use Almond Meal instead of flour
Hi Jane! That wouldn’t be an easy 1:1 swap as almond flour has very different baking properties. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here.
Looking forward to making these! What would you substitute the orange for? I have a citrus allergy.
Hi Charlotte, you can leave out the zest and orange juice in the dough. Also leave out the extra 2 Tbsp of flour, since you’re leaving out the juice. Feel free to add a little spice such as cardamom, cinnamon, or nutmeg. For the icing, you can replace the juice with milk.
Hi, Sally. Would cardamom and cinnamon be okay to add to cookie dough mixture? If so, how much for each? Thanks.
Absolutely! I’d say 1/2 teaspoon each.
Hi Sally,
Should we use sweetened dried cranberries or unsweetened?
Hi Lexi, either should work just fine!
After slicing the cookies, do you think you could use a cookie press/imprint? Not sure if this is the right style of cookie for that. Thank you – can’t wait to try. They are mouth watering!
Hi Jennifer, I fear the cold sliced cookies would crack a bit. You could let them come to room temperature a bit, use the stamp, and then chill them again. I recommend chilling again so the stamped shape is quite clear, even after baking.
My holiday baking includes your daily cookie inspirations. Thank you!!
Would these work in a Nordic ware shortbread cookie snowflake mold with lines for cutting each cookie? Thank you for your suggestions.
You’re welcome! I’m sure this dough could work for that, since it’s a matter of just pressing dough into the embossed pan (right?) and baking it, but can’t be 100% positive since I haven’t tried it myself.
I am thinking of adding these to the gift baskets I give to family, will they hold up in the plastic
cookie bags I put them in? I’m wondering if the icing will melt. Thanks!
Hi Beth, the icing sets on these cookies after 30–60 minutes, so you can easily store, stack, and transport the cookies.
thanks so much!
Can I swap to lemon and blueberries (frozen) if so, what denomination should I use?
Hi Sharon! You can absolutely use lemon and blueberry. However, I wouldn’t use fresh or frozen blueberries. Instead, use dried blueberries. Same amounts of juice and dried fruit.
I’d like to add chopped pistachios in addition to the cranberries for taste but also for red and green color. Good idea or bad? How much of each should I add?
Hi Lois, what a great idea! You could add 1/2 cup chopped cranberries and 1/2 cup chopped pistachios. Let us know if you give it a try!
Is coarse sugar the same as turbinado sugar?
Hi Regina, you can roll these cookies in turbinado sugar.
Love your cookies, Sally and I’m looking forward to making these. I have one question. You state the logs are about 8 inches and each cookie is less than 1/2 inch. Yet you also state that the yield is 24. Are the logs 6 inches, not 8 inches, or are the cookies slightly bigger than 1/2 inch? Thanks for clarifying this.
Hi Karen! Let me clarify. They are a bit thicker than 1/2-inch. 🙂 I roll them to be about 7-8 inches long. I think between the recipe card and text above, things got shuffled around!
Love the ease of icebox cookies. Always everyone’s favorite. I didn’t have oranges on hand, but I did have the orange infused dried cranberries from Trader Joe’s! I also didn’t have time to wait for icing to set, so I just added white chocolate chips to the dough. Wonderful!! Hint: use a ceramic knife to slice the cookies. It will slice through everything without having the cookie dough break apart! Love your recipes Sally. I check your site first whenever I’m looking for a recipe!
Sally,
I have a question, can fresh or frozen cranberries be used instead of dried?
Hi Lisa, you can try, but it would be very hard to slice the cookies using whole cranberries. You can try chopping them. I’m unsure how much the cookies will spread. It’s best to use dried here.
I would like to use frozen cranberries for the dried. Do you see any problem with that?
Hi Sherrie, I don’t recommend frozen. And it would be very hard to slice the cookies using whole thawed cranberries. You can try chopping them, but I’m unsure how much the cookies will spread. It’s best to use dried here.
Hi
Can I use fresh cranberries?
Thanks
Hi Diane, you can try, but it would be very hard to slice the cookies using whole cranberries. You can try chopping them. I’m unsure how much the cookies will spread. It’s best to use dried here.
I have orange juice but no oranges. Is it OK to skip the zest?
Hi Stefanie, you can leave out the zest.
I made these cookies tonight they are absolutely yummy . I didn’t do the glaze ! They certainly didn’t need it . They are quite addictive, ate at least 5 cookies
These are just ridiculous! I’m trying so hard to be on a healthy diet right now, but I have a toddler firmly in the terrible 2s and baking is one of the few sure fire activities for a good afternoon. When I saw the cranberry orange combo I just had to try. They were so easy, and such simple ingredients that we always have, and they came out perfect! I could definitely eat an entire batch at once, which makes the slice and bake aspect just perfect. I only sliced up 1/2 a log so if I want more I have to actually bake them up, can’t just sneak one from the cookie jar. This recipe is definitely going into the favorites list, and now I have to try the dark chocolate orange version