The Originators of Quick & Easy Cooking!
Cranberry Shortbread Drops
Cranberry shortbread cookies don't get any better than this!

- MAKES
- 3 dozen
- COOK TIME
- 10 Min
These cookies are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. No, honestly, pop one of these Cranberry Shortbread Drops into your mouth and experience everything a buttery shortbread cookie should be, with the added bonus of creamy white chocolate pieces and flavorful dried cranberries. Yum!
If you serve these cranberry shortbread cookies this holiday season, you can expect to be asked to make them again. The good news is that we don't think you'll mind at all, because they are actually really simple to make! Just follow our easy recipe and check out the video above to learn how. Enjoy!
What You'll Need
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
What to Do
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. Add flour; mix well. Stir in dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and walnuts. Drop by small teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets.
- Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned on bottom.
Notes
We get creative with cranberries because we love them so much around here! Here's a collection we think you'll enjoy!
Up Next:

Littlebit 5103
Feb 02, 2020
? for Test Kitchen Ingredients list 1egg 1 egg yolk. Instructions only call for egg yolk to be added to creamed butter and mixture. When is the whole egg used?
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Test Kitchen Team
Feb 03, 2020
We've made the correction above! Thanks for your help. :)
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rring141
Dec 20, 2019
I wonder what would they be like if an whole egg was added? I had the same crumbly cookie also even with a little extra water. They eventually set up nice, but really give out when bitten into.
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erichard 9092720
Dec 09, 2019
Been making these since Howard showcased this recipe. A REALLY big hit. Will double the recipe for a holiday party. They disappear quickly.
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lujaunat 6591231
Nov 26, 2019
I don't know what I did wrong but these cookies were flat as a pancake. When I tried to remove them from the cookie sheet they just crumbled. My son said the crumble would be good on ice cream so I guess that is what I will do with it. Such a waist of ingredients though. What did I do wrong?
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noah11 7976731
Dec 16, 2017
I made these cookies yesterday. I did add one tbs. of water, but still the cookies had a tendency to crumble. I started with 1 small tsp. as the recipe states. Way too little! On the first batch I used a dark blue speckled enamelware baking sheet. Big mistake. Cookies got very brown on the bottom. I changed to another baking sheet and dropped the dough by large tbs. onto that baking sheet. I then had good cookies. My recommendations would be 1) don't use a dark speckled enamelware baking sheet 2) drop by tablespoons and not teaspoons.
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grannytina1 2729616
Nov 11, 2016
Fantastic Christmas cookie I did add 1 teaspoon water to mix they taste as good as they look!
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ckottwitz 7869671
Mar 03, 2016
Tried the recipe again, with much better results. Added the tablespoon of water, used much softer butter and a brand new KitchenAid mixer. Not sure which did the trick, but we now have "cookies" instead of "crumbles". Thanks much. Excellent, EASY recipe.
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ckottwitz 7869671
Feb 27, 2016
We've tried these cookies on 3 different occasions. We're having trouble keeping the dough together. It's extremely crumbly. We don't know if the butter is too soft, not soft enough, or maybe we're not mixing it long enough.
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Test Kitchen Team
Feb 29, 2016
Hi there! The Test Kitchen is sorry that this recipe has not been turning out well for you. Its suggestion is that the butter should be soft enough (but not melted) that it doesnt have any lumps in it after beating with sugar. The Test Kitchen also recommends mixing the batter longer and adding 1 tablespoon of water if needed. Let us know how to this recipe turns out for you, we would love to hear your feedback. Enjoy!
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farmgirls5
Jan 04, 2016
These are what Christmas tastes like! I made smaller cookies and got 6 dozen. They were the perfect size for putting on Christmas cookie trays. I agree using pecans would make these taste like Pecan Sandies. This would be a wonderful year round recipe. So delicious and easy to make!
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RoxanneS
Dec 22, 2015
Wonderful cookies. I will make them with semi-sweet chocolate chips for Valentines Day. Substituting pecans reminds me of Pecan Sandies.
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foxwoodsbingo44 1809082
Dec 08, 2015
I made these using dried cranberries and they were a really big hit . Had to make more 2 days later. Everyone wanted to take some home. You hit the jackpot
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shdudek 0673060
Nov 28, 2015
Hi! Can you use fresh cranberries instead of dried
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Test Kitchen Team
Nov 30, 2015
We do not recommend using fresh cranberries for this recipe as they may pop while baking and cause a mess.
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CaptScubaChic
Nov 28, 2015
These are DELICIOUS! Everyone wanted more!!! I agree with erichard - I used a smaller cookie scoop and they were DONE in 9 minutes. They were just right, 8 1/2 would have been perfect! Also, they made 75 cookies with the smaller scoop.
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erichard 9092720
Nov 16, 2015
They do melt in your mouth. Using teaspoon size drops, the cookies are small and bake faster than 10 minutes and I may reduce oven temp to 375! Watch carefully.
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BaconBombshell
Oct 14, 2015
These drop cookies literally melt in your mouth. I love the combination of cranberries, chocolate and walnuts. I think I'll make them as Christmas gifts. Simply delicious!
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