These Orange Cranberry Cookies with Icing are soft, citrusy, and sweet. Filled with tart dried cranberries, crispy chopped pecans, and bright citrusy orange zest, then rolled in orange sugar and drizzled with orange icing, they are a beautiful and delicious holiday treat.

What we love about these Cranberry Orange Cookies with Icing

These cookies are the most flavorful cookies, ever! Studded with cranberries, pecans, and orange zest, then rolled in orange sugar and drizzled with orange icing, they are so flavorful and so delicious. I love including these with holiday gifting because they are a pretty, colorful cookie with holiday flavors that bring contrast and balance to a holiday cookie plate.

I love the texture of the cookies as well, slightly crispy on the outside, and softer on the inside. We love these both with and without the icing, but everyone in my home agrees that the icing just takes these cookies to another level.

Looking for other Christmas treats? Try our Ginger Crinkle Cookies, our Kitchen Sink Cookies, our Cherry Bars with Almond Glaze, or our Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Bark.

What you need to make these Cranberry Orange Cookies

You will need the following ingredients:

All-purpose flour
Cornstarch
Baking soda
Baking powder
Salt
Granulated Sugar
Butter
Egg
Vanilla
Dried cranberries
Pecans
Orange Zest
Powdered sugar
Half-and-half

Orange Cranberry Cookies with Icing Substitutions

I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand, and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:

Don’t have pecans or don’t like them? Walnuts, macadamia nuts, or pistachios, for a seasonal choice, are good options for a substitute.
In place of orange juice and zest, you could try substituting lemon for cranberry lemon cookies.
Another dried fruit, like cherries, could possibly substitute.
The icing is optional because the cookies taste amazing both with and without it. We all think the icing elevates the cookie even more, but you can opt not to add it.
Half-and-half is called for in the icing because I like that it has more creaminess than milk, but isn’t too thick. Because cream is thicker, you have to add more to thin the icing, and you start to lose the orange flavor from the juice. If you want to substitute the half-and-half, I would substitute it with milk, but you may only need 1/2 teaspoon.
In a pinch, you could use bottled orange juice in the icing, but fresh is best. The bottled orange juice may taste slightly sweeter, and the flavor isn’t as complex as fresh orange juice.

Step-by-step Instructions

Step 1. In a small bowl, stir together the orange zest and sugar until it is well combined, breaking up the orange zest so it is evenly mixed in. Set aside.

Step 2. Using an electric hand-held mixer or a stand mixer, at medium speed, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until thoroughly mixed.

Step 3. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix at low speed just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Scrape down the sides of the mixture to make sure all ingredients are incorporated. Mix in the dried cranberries, pecans, and orange zest

Step 4. Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon of dough), scoop the dough and roll into 1-inch balls, then roll the balls in the orange sugar. Space the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Using the bottom of a cup, flatten each ball into a 1 ½ inch circle.

Step 5. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-9 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies are just turning golden brown. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool for 1 minute, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Step 6. To make the icing, in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, half-and-half, and orange juice. The consistency shouldn’t be too thick. Add ¼ teaspoon more orange juice or half-and-half at a time to reach the desired consistency if needed. You want the icing to drizzle and hold its shape. Place the icing in a squeeze bottle or in a small sealable bag, cut the very tip off of the bag, and drizzle the icing over the cookies.

Tips

I recommend keeping parchment paper on hand; it is especially helpful when baking cookies. Lining your pan with parchment paper helps prevent cookies from spreading when baking, which in turn helps prevent your cookies from becoming too thin and crispy. The cookies won’t stick to your pan, and pans are much easier to clean up. Also, the parchment paper creates a thin layer between the cookies and the pan, which helps promote even browning and prevents hot spots on your pan that may cause cookies to burn.
I love using a cookie scoop when making cookies so that the cookies are a uniform size and shape. I use a small cookie scoop for this recipe, which makes a scoop of about 1 tablespoon. This scoop from Amazon works well.
I highly recommend using a Microplane zester, which really helps zest oranges so easily.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the cookie dough be made in advance?

The USDA says that cookie dough is safe in the fridge for 2-4 days. You can make this dough the day before, store it covered in the fridge, and roll and bake the cookies the next day. Before rolling and baking, keep the dough out at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or the dough will be hard to scoop.

How do I store Orange Cranberry cookies?

a. A powdered sugar glaze with a little dairy does not need to be refrigerated, as the high concentration of sugar in the glaze acts as a stabilizer and preservative. Store cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the fridge for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months. I use a Tupperware container and use parchment paper to separate the layers when stacking, so the cookies don’t stick together.
b. You can also freeze cookie dough. Make the dough through step 8 in the recipe, after the dough has been rolled and flattened. Freeze the dough on the cookie sheet. Once frozen, they can be frozen in a sealed bag or container for up to 2 months. To thaw, set them on a cookie sheet ready to bake and let them sit at room temperature for 15-30 minutes while the oven preheats. You may need to bake them for a little longer, 9-11 minutes. Do not overbake.

Orange Cranberry Cookies with Icing

Recipe by Risa

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: DessertCuisine: American

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Serving Size

36-40

Total time

hour

Ingredients

Cookies:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, using the spoon and level method for measuring
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup finely chopped cranberries
½ cup pecans, finely chopped
2 teaspoons orange zest (2 navel oranges)
Orange Sugar:
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
Optional Orange Icing:
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 ½ tablespoons orange juice (freshly squeezed)
½-1 teaspoon half-and-half

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir together the orange zest and sugar until it is well combined, breaking up the orange zest so it is evenly mixed in. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric hand-held mixer or a stand mixer, at medium speed, beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until thoroughly mixed.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix at low speed just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Scrape down the sides of the mixture to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
Mix in the dried cranberries, pecans, and orange zest.
Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 tablespoon), scoop the dough and roll into 1-inch balls, then roll the balls in the orange sugar. Space the dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Using the bottom of a cup, flatten each ball into a 1 ½ inch circle.
Bake the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-9 minutes, until the bottoms of the cookies are just turning golden brown. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet to cool for 1 minute, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the icing, in a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, half-and-half, and orange juice. The consistency shouldn’t be too thick. Add ¼ teaspoon more orange juice or half-and-half at a time to reach the desired consistency if needed. You want the icing to drizzle and hold its shape. Place the icing in a squeeze bottle or in a small sealable bag, cut the very tip off of the bag, and drizzle the icing over the cookies.

Notes

To measure your flour, spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and level off the top using a knife or straight-edged utensil for best results.
Flattening a cookie dough ball with a glass creates a crispier, thinner cookie, ensures they bake more uniformly, and gives them a classic, uniform look. This method prevents thick, puffy centers by encouraging wider, flatter baking. Having forgotten to do this step once, the end result was a cookie that didn’t hardly spread at all and wasn’t done in the middle after baking.
If you want to bring out a little more orange flavor in the icing, you can add a little orange zest to the icing as well.
The icing is optional because the cookies taste amazing both with and without it. We all think the icing elevates the cookie even more, but you can opt not to add it if you like.