This buttery shortbread is filled with cranberries, pistachios, and creamy bits of white chocolate, for a festive twist on a classic treat.
Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread with White Chocolate
A classic shortbread, with a festive twist!
A while back, I created a shortbread cookie recipe for Granny’s that I really enjoyed and I considered it perfect as it was. This week, I had the idea to make a Christmas version that was inspired by the list of ingredients my hairdresser told me he would like to have in a cookie.
The result was Pistachio, Cranberry, and White Chocolate Shortbread.
I decided to make a batch as a gift to my hairdresser but this combination was exceptional and so delicious that I decided to make it a stand-alone recipe here.
It not only tastes amazing, but the addition of green pistachios and red cranberries gives it a festive look as well. Perfect for Christmas cookie tins or dessert tables!
My one little taste turned into me eating a whole piece for breakfast. I’m still daydreaming about how good it was.
The foundation of this recipe is a basic Scottish shortbread recipe. Then I added chopped pistachios, chopped dried cranberries, and grated white chocolate and incorporated them gently into the dough. This version takes a little bit more time because of the extra ingredients but it is well worth the time and extra effort!
Ingredients
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- 1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter
- ½ cup extra-fine sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios
- 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
- 3-4 ounces chopped baking white chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
Helpful Kitchen Tools
Instructions
To Prep:
- Allow butter to soften for about an hour on the counter
- Gather and prepare your ingredients, shell the pistachios, etc.
- Line an un-greased square baking pan with parchment paper.
To Prepare The Dough:
- Stir or mix together the softened butter, the sugar, salt, and egg yolk. Add flour, a little at a time until mixed in. The dough will look a little crumbly at this point.
- Add the pistachios, cranberries, and white chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed. The dough will still look crumbly.
- Dump the dough onto a smooth surface and knead for a short time until it starts to form a ball. There will be some cracks — it won’t be 100% smooth — but don’t over-work the dough.
- Pat dough out into your prepared pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To Bake The Shortbread:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to cut into slices. Use a dinner fork to make holes in the dough.
- Bake for about 22 minutes until lightly browned.
Prep Tips
- Pistachios – I believe that pistachios in the shell taste fresher than ones that come pre-shelled, so that’s what I used. Though this does add to the prep work! However, if you’d like to save time, you can certainly use shelled pistachios. Pistachios are easy to chop with a knife. Remove any pieces of tough skin that fall off too.
- White Chocolate – I used Ghirardelli white chocolate that I found in the baking section of the grocery store. I did grate it on the box grater but in the future, I will chop it. It’s just too soft to have a good grating experience. I wanted the smaller pieces so the flavor would just melt into the cookie rather than being chunks.
- Cranberries – I chopped the dried cranberries by hand.
- Sugar – Mom’s recipe calls for extra-fine sugar. Extra-fine sugar is also known as caster sugar, baker’s sugar, or super-fine sugar. I splurged and bought the super fine sugar (it cost about $5 for a one-pound bag). I have seen recipes for shortbread that use powdered sugar. I used that in one batch and it did fine. But for overall flavor/texture I give a slight edge to the super-fine sugar. If you use regular sugar, the recommendation I’ve seen is to run it through your blender first.
- Butter – This recipe calls for unsalted butter. I recommend sticking to unsalted so that the amount of salt is correct. When a recipe only has five ingredients, you want to use a good quality butter because you will taste the difference.
- Flour – As with the butter, I recommend choosing a good quality all-purpose flour. One thing I look for is for it to be unbleached. Choosing organic is great too. Most supermarkets carry a good selection of flours these days.
White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Recipe
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White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread.
Equipment
- 8-inch square pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 1 cup two sticks unsalted butter
- ½ cup extra-fine sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup pistachios chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries chopped
- 3-4 ounces chopped baking white chocolate I used Ghirardelli
Instructions
To Prep:
- Allow butter to soften for about an hour on the counter
- Gather and prepare your ingredients, shell the pistachios, etc.
- Line an un-greased square baking pan with parchment paper.
To Prepare The Dough:
- Stir or mix together the softened butter, the sugar, salt, and egg yolk. Add flour, a little at a time until mixed in. The dough will look a little crumbly at this point.
- Add the pistachios, cranberries, and white chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly distributed. The dough will still look crumbly.
- Dump the dough onto a smooth surface and knead for a short time until it starts to form a ball. There will be some cracks — it won’t be 100% smooth — but don’t over-work the dough.
- Pat dough out into your prepared pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To Bake The Shortbread:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Remove dough from the refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to cut into slices. Use a dinner fork to make holes in the dough.
- Bake for about 22 minutes until lightly browned.
Notes
- Pistachios - I believe that pistachios in the shell taste fresher than ones that come pre-shelled, so that's what I used. Though this does add to the prep work! However, if you'd like to save time, you can certainly use shelled pistachios. Pistachios are easy to chop with a knife. Remove any pieces of tough skin that fall off too.
- White Chocolate - I used Ghirardelli white chocolate that I found in the baking section of the grocery store. I did grate it on the box grater but in the future, I will chop it. It’s just too soft to have a good grating experience. I wanted the smaller pieces so the flavor would just melt into the cookie rather than being chunks.
- Cranberries - I chopped the dried cranberries by hand.
- Sugar - Mom’s recipe calls for extra-fine sugar. Extra-fine sugar is also known as caster sugar, baker's sugar, or super-fine sugar. I splurged and bought the super fine sugar (it cost about $5 for a one-pound bag). I have seen recipes for shortbread that use powdered sugar. I used that in one batch and it did fine. But for overall flavor/texture I give a slight edge to the super-fine sugar. If you use regular sugar, the recommendation I’ve seen is to run it through your blender first.
- Butter - This recipe calls for unsalted butter. I recommend sticking to unsalted so that the amount of salt is correct. When a recipe only has five ingredients, you want to use a good quality butter because you will taste the difference.
- Flour - As with the butter, I recommend choosing a good quality all-purpose flour. One thing I look for is for it to be unbleached. Choosing organic is great too. Most supermarkets carry a good selection of flours these days.
Nutrition
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