Name: Vegan Cranberry Orange Shortbread
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 18 min
Ingredients: 200 g (1 + ⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour; 75 g (½ cup + 2 Tablespoons) cornflour (cornstarch); 185 g (¾ cup + 1 teaspoon) vegan block butter (NOT the spreadable kind. I use Naturli Vegan Block) (slightly softened); 100 g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar; finely grated zest of 2 large oranges; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; pinch salt; 100 g (3 ½ oz) dried cranberries (chopped)

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Vegan cranberry orange shortbread - these delicious slice-and-bake cookies are easy to make, rich, melt-in-the-mouth and so full of flavour.

They are perfect for Christmas and can be made in advance and baked right from the freezer.

Vegan cranberry orange shortbread cookies on a wire cooling rack with dried orange slices and cranberries.

These vegan cranberry orange shortbread cookies are wonderfully rich, intensely orangey and very, very moreish!

They have a tender, crisp, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth texture and a buttery, zingy flavour.

You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make these biscuits. They are made using my traditional shortbread base with added orange and cranberry for festive flavour.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Cranberry Orange Shortbread?:

Vegan block butter: Please, for the love of holy baking, use a block butter/margarine to make these cookies, not the spreadable kind in a tub.

Spreadable will likely make the dough too soft, and the biscuits may be more tough as it contains more water. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant Butter.

Caster sugar: You can use granulated sugar instead if you don't have caster.

Don't use brown sugar, coconut sugar, sweeteners or liquid sugars as that will affect the texture of the cookies.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven't tried making these gluten-free.

Cornflour: This helps to give the shortbread a lovely melt-in-the mouth texture. You can swap it for the same weight of plain flour if you don't have any.

Orange zest: Freshly grated orange zest gives a much better flavour than extract would.

Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. If you have it then vanilla bean paste would be amazing instead.

Dried cranberries: Chopped dried cranberries add lovely bursts of tart flavour, and go great with the orange, they also make the shortbread look very festive.

Shortbread cookies on a metal tray with dried orange slices, cranberries and Christmas ornaments.

How To Make Vegan Cranberry Orange Shortbread:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Sift together the plain flour and the cornflour.

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt until light and fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients and stir in until all the flour is moistened and no lumps of butter remain.

Stir through the chopped cranberries then use your hands to bring the dough together.

Form the dough into a log about 5-7cm thick - use your hands and roll it on a surface to get it as even as possible.

Wrap the log in baking parchment and refrigerate for 2 hours until firm, and up to 3 days.

Step 5, wrapping the log in baking parchment.

Use a very sharp knife to slice the log into approx 8mm thick slices. They may crumble a bit due to the pieces of cranberry, if this happens just use your hands to press the dough back into a round.

(If the dough has become too firm to slice, let it sit out at room temperature for about half an hour before slicing it).

Place the cookie slices slightly spaced apart on a couple of parchment lined baking sheets and pop them in the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Step 7, the cookies on a baking tray before baking.

Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes until firm and pale golden.

Close up of vegan cranberry orange shortbread cookies.

Top Tips:

All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

You need to chop the cranberries fairly finely, don't just add them whole otherwise they won't be evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Do not overwork the dough as that will develop the gluten in the flour resulting in chewy biscuits. Just mix it until it is fully combined then use your hands to bring it together.

The dough can be a bit difficult to slice due to the pieces of cranberry. Use a very sharp knife and if any of the slices crumble you can simply use your fingers to press it back into a round.

These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.

If you want to make cut out cookies rather than slice-and-bake ones you can chill the dough for about 30 minutes (don't bother forming it into a log) then roll it out on a lightly floured surface and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Use fairly basic shapes (such as circles, stars and hearts) as the pieces of cranberry will make it difficult to cut out any intricate shapes.

Vegan cranberry orange shortbread cookies on a metal tray.

Can I Make The Dough In Advance?:

The log of dough will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let it sit out at room temperature for about half an hour before slicing it if it gets too firm.

Alternatively, cut the log into slices and freeze them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-proof container. The cookies can be baked straight from the freezer, no need to defrost them first.

Can I Use Fresh Cranberries?:

No. Fresh cranberries contain too much moisture that would make the dough wet and result in soggy cookies. You really do need to use dried ones.

More Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes:

Shortbread cookies on a round wire rack with dried orange slices, cranberries and Christmas decorations.

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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5 from 2 votes