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+ servings

Cranberry Orange Poppy Seed Cookies

Slice-and-bake sugar cookies from Joy the Baker's first cookbook, these adorable little cookies are gorgeous to look at, delicious to eat, and easily adapted to your choice of mix-ins.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time11 minutes
Total Time3 hours 36 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
  • cup powdered sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest or lemon zest
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Instructions

  • Whisk the flour and salt together in a small bowl.
  • In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until they become fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and beat on low until fully incorporated, about 2 more minutes. Scrape down the bowl as necessary to enable incorporation.
  • Dump in the flour and salt, zest, cranberries, and poppy seeds. Beat at low speed until not quite combined. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to fold everything together until incorporated.
  • Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a separate sheet of wax or parchment paper. Gently roll or pat each into a 1-inch diameter log (the wax paper will help you do this). Wrap with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until fully chilled, at least 3 hours or overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 F, ensuring one oven rack is in the middle and the other is in the upper third. Line your cookie sheet pan(s) with parchment paper.
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator and it's protective plastic wrap, then slice the dough into ½-inch-thick rounds*. Place them 1-inch apart on the cookie sheet(s).
  • Bake for 11-15 minutes, until barely golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on the cookie sheet on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.

Notes

These cookies will keep up to four days at room temperature if tightly wrapped.
* I preferred my cookies a little thicker than the original recipe's specification of ⅓-inch thick cuts to the dough. If you like your cookies thinner, you may wish to slice these a little more thinly than I did.