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Cranberry Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

Rick Nelson and Lee Svitak Dean
"Cranberry Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies” reprinted from The Ultimate Minnesota Cookie Book: 100 Best Recipes from the Star Tribune’s Holiday Cookie Contest by Lee Svitak Dean and Rick Nelson; Photography by Tom Wallace. Published by the University of Minnesota Press. Copyright 2024 by Lee Svitak Dean and Rick Nelson. Photographs copyright 2024 by Tom Wallace. Used by permission.
Servings 2 dozen

Ingredients
  

For Glaze

  • cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
  • 2 to 4 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange
  • juice

For Cookies

  • 1 cup flour plus extra for rolling dough
  • ¼ cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and
  • cut into small pieces
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons chopped dried cranberries

Instructions
 

For Glaze

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, orange zest, and 2 teaspoons orange juice, adding more orange juice, a teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is slightly runny. Reserve.

For Cookies

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, rosemary, and cayenne. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (You may need to add water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to help the dough come together.) Stir in the dried cranberries. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  • When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325°F and line the baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4 -inch
  • thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough and place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough, gathering up scraps, re-rolling, and cutting until all the dough is used.
  • Bake until lightly brown, 21 to 24 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Brush the cookies with the glaze; then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.